


No Such Thing As Fate

by badomens444



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Eventual Fluri, F/F, M/M, Meta, Universe Alterations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-01-11 04:31:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 53
Words: 169,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badomens444/pseuds/badomens444
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terca Lumireis, a land ravaged by war. In the midst of the upheaval, a young Royal Guard, Flynn Scifo, sets out on a path to save his world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone's support, the first chapter of this is going up! It's going to be long running, but I'm hoping to post twice weekly because there's somewhere between 80-100 chapters. I'm not positive on the number just yet because I haven't finished editing. Thank you for reading, and I hope that you enjoy.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

_Fourteen years ago, I made a comment in passing to one of the captains of Zaphias' Imperial Knights which began a chain of events that changed the history of this world._

* * *

 

The Lower Quarter didn't look much different than he remembered. Rows of cramped, dilapidated buildings, homes and shops with dirty windows, and the ever-flowing fountain in the center of it all that provided water for the whole of the citizens. The inn was still where he remembered, packed with people for dinner and drinks after a hard day's work.

Yuri Lowell didn't miss this place. There wasn't a single moment of time that he wasn't glad to not live in the slums of the city of Zaphias, the supposed jewel of the Empire.

The purple and white dog beside him barked, reminding him that he was here on a mission.

"Sorry, Repede. Guess we're off to the Royal Quarter? Old man said that's where the guy we're looking for lives." He pulled a torn bit of clothing out of his pocket and let the dog take a good sniff.

Repede put his nose to the ground, looking for the scent. Yuri's nose wasn't strong enough to pick up on it, but the scent of the thief could not have been a pleasant one. He imagined sweat and cheap, overpowering cologne, maybe a hint of salt air from sea travel. With a flick of his tail, the dog signaled that he had found the scent and glanced back to Yuri with his one good, green eye.

"Got it?"

He received a short, brisk woof as a reply. He followed his partner up the hill and through the wooden gateway that cordoned off the Lower Quarter from the Public Quarter. The brown and olive uniformed city guards eyed him suspiciously but they made no movements against him. He wasn't afraid of imperial guards. They were pompous and ill trained at best, but he wasn't in a position to start a fight like he would have liked to. He kept a leisurely pace along the main thoroughfare, in spite of Repede's constant looking back over his shoulder to urge him along. His mission may have been one of urgency but he wanted to raise as little suspicion as possible. After all, his kind was far from welcome here, and if these city guards knew that he was from Zaphias's enemy, the city-state of Dahngrest, home of the guilds and the Union, they would not hesitate to arrest him. Execution was not out of the picture either.

Many of the merchants were closing up shop for the day, but he still poked around a few of the stalls to make himself blend in a little to the dying crowds. He made a few small purchases. They weren't even things he really needed, but a few extra gels and a few poison bottles couldn't hurt.

As people were passing into the Royal Quarter, he followed quietly next to a Krityan woman. He amazingly looked less out of place there with a dog than he did beside some of the lavishly dressed and ridiculous looking nobles. She smiled at him briefly, but said nothing to him and didn't seem to mind his proximity. This was a blessing.

A long garden stretched up the hill, separating the Royal Quarter from the Public Quarter. It was prettier than the wall or gates that the nobles would have liked to have erected, but still served the purpose of putting that much distance between them and the common folk. He ducked into the garden just before the final steps leading up the long road in front of the castle. He listened to the guards talking about the citizens of the Lower Quarter in such a way that made even him angry.

Yuri stooped and picked up a couple of rocks. They were the size of his palm, flat, round and heavy. He had to get in past the knights somehow, and a little use of force was never outside of his capabilities. In fact, force was his forte. He angled the first rock up over the uselessly flowery bushes and pegged the first of the guards in the head. He crashed to the ground in a heap of armor, and as the other approached to see what had happened, he threw the second rock. The second guard fell as easily as the first, and Repede rushed up the stairs, his nose absorbing every little trace of scent from the decorated cobblestone road that he could. He also sniffed the fallen guards, and, using his front paws, mimed scratching dirt over them. 

He mounted the steps behind the dog, keeping an eye out for any other guards that his display may have alerted. There were two red uniformed guards at the entrance to the palace, Royal Guards, but neither appeared to have noticed. He knelt beside Repede

"Which way?"

The dog did a circle around the guards and picked up the scent down the east end of the road. He trotted along toward the first stately manor that lined the road in front of the palace, and looked back at Yuri to signal him. He followed, slipping through the gate of the manor. With luck, it would be at least a few minutes before the knocked out guards were discovered. That would give them plenty of time to complete their mission.

The mansion appeared abandoned, but a carriage drawn by two horses stood outside. It also appeared empty. He sneaked around it, hugging close to the bushes as he walked. He moved up the front steps, and immediately went for the front door. It didn't give as he pulled.

"Locked huh?" He wasn't going to be deterred by something minor like that. He walked around to one of the side walls of the manor, where several glass windows were set into the wall. When he looked in, the inside of the mansion seemed mostly void of decoration and completely lacked any human presence. He pulled the window open easily. "Lock the door but not the windows. What an idiot." He climbed in and Repede jumped in behind him.

It was dark and quiet, but they still moved through house. Up a set of stairs and through a few rooms, they followed the scent. It was very empty here, which confirmed what the old man had told him. This was a front for whatever this person was doing on the side. And he knew exactly what that was. This person was a blastia thief. The blastia from all across Dahngrest had recently gone missing and in his investigation, it all led back to this person whom he only knew as Mordio. From his contact's information, Zaphias was experiencing a similar problem and it was probably the result of the same thief.

As he and Repede exited one of the rooms on the upper floor, they heard the click of a latch and looked over the railing to the foyer below. A cloaked man had his hand on the door ready to make his exit.

"So you must be Mordio."

The man stopped cold, turning slowly and trembling. "W-Who are you?"

"That's not really important, now is it?" Yuri jumped off the railing into the foyer with very little effort and Repede followed, growling.

"What do you want from me?"

"First off, all that stolen blastia. We'll go from there."

Mordio made a small movement and, as the air filled with smoke, Yuri felt like an idiot. He should have seen a crooked trick like that coming. He thrust the scabbard of his sword through the smoke and only hit the wood door. He pushed it open and rushed out, Repede barking behind him.

Mordio was already pulling himself into the carriage by the time they made it out the door. Just as they were about to continue their pursuit, the loud clanking of armor stopped them. Approaching was a large group of knights. He swore. They had to continue after Mordio, but now they risked being captured. A few knights he could have easily fought, but this was enough to make him reconsider the worth of running away.

Repede rushed ahead, scurrying to get at the carriage that was pulling away. Yuri came in behind, but as he reached to take hold of the wood, the knights blocked his path and allowed the carriage to drive off.

"Damn it."

"Halt! Who are you?!"

"Who? Me? I'm just passing through."

"You're under arrest. Surrender at once."

As long as Repede could stay on the trail of the blastia thief, he would be able to catch up later. For right now, surrendering was his best option.

Yuri laid down his sword. The Imperial Knights didn't spare him a single blow before slapping him in irons and dragging him to the palace prison.

* * *

 

It had been a week, one horrible, lonely, dark week. It was all the grieving time he was allowed as a Knight in the imperial ranks. He was lucky to be allowed even that during these times of war. Everyone he knew, everyone who had served with or under his father came to give him their condolences. That did nothing to ease the pain that came from losing his only parent.

Finath Scifo had been a great man. He had been in the knighthood since before Flynn was born, and over the years of his hard work and dedication, had risen steadily through the ranks to become a captain, one of the highest places of honor that could be held by an Imperial Knight.His hard work had built a comfortable life for himself and his son. Where they had been citizens of the Lower Quarter when Flynn was very young, a promotion had allowed them to live in the Public Quarter, in a house that had been much larger and much nicer than any Flynn could have remembered seeing before.Even as a captain, they had remained in that house, and that house was now Flynn's.He didn't like it anymore. It was full of happy memories that only proved to haunt him late at night when he tried to sleep.

Many had attended the funeral, placing lovely white flowers atop his father's casket. The casket seemed pointless, since all that had been brought back of his father were his sword and shield, and his tattered uniform. His death at the hands of Union soldiers had gratefully been on the battlefield and not the shaming death afforded to prisoners of war. He had lived and died a hero. But with his death, Flynn was alone, with only his father's blastia left on his wrist. It had been a gift for Flynn's promotion into the Royal Guard, but it felt so cold on his wrist now.

Even that knowledge did not stop the ache in his chest. As he dressed for work, the red uniform he donned felt unnatural after only a week of leave. It seemed so heavy, like a burden he was being forced to bear. Flynn had not asked to be a Royal Guard in the Imperial Knights. He had worked hard for his position, but he still felt like he had gotten where he was because of his father, and he resented him a little for that. If his father had not been a captain, he knew that, even with his apparent skill level, he would have been a standard foot soldier serving under any of the other captains. It took a great deal of work to be accepted into the Royal Guard. Commandant Alexei was incredibly particular, and with good reason, about who would be allowed to be his personal guard and among the guards of the Royal family. Right now, all Flynn wanted to do was mourn. He still had his duty to do, however.

Flynn walked briskly to the palace to report for duty. The people of the Public Quarter greeted him in their regular friendly manner, but that also did little to put his mind at ease. He still put on a brave front and walked to the palace like nothing at all was wrong, like he hadn't lost his father only a week before.

It was still a little while before his shift began so he took to strolling through the palace gardens. It was a quiet, warm summer day and it got him to thinking. He had only once before seen the world beyond the Sword Stair barrier that protected the imperial capital of Zaphias. Since his father's death, he had been thinking much more seriously about a transfer to the field. He knew that he was needed here, but he felt so useless. He wasn't helping anyone here. He stood by, day by day, as his comrades on the battlefield suffered where he might be able to help. The likelihood that Commandant Alexei would approve such a thing was very small. The Royal Guard were hand picked, and their talents were not to be wasted fighting the enemy far from here, but instead the enemy on the home front, where many innocent civilians were at stake. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel like he was not giving his all to the Empire like he should have been.

"Flynn." A voice from behind him broke his thoughts and he turned quickly and saluted the pink haired girl who had walked up.

"Lady Estellise." He bowed low and respectful.

She pulled away a little from the two guards following her and then spoke to him in a whisper. "May I speak with you in private?"

"Certainly."

The two guards moved back and allowed them to walk a little further into the garden, toward a stately fountain. This put enough distance between them and the other guards that they would not be able to overhear them and could not read lips.

The princess had been an acquaintance of his for years now, but she rarely asked to speak with him privately. Something must have been bothering her a great deal to provoke such a thing. If she felt like it was something that she needed him for, no matter what it was, it was his duty to obey as a servant of the Empire.

"I'm very worried about Ioder. I haven't seen him in two days."

"Have you spoken with his guard?" He was acquainted with the young prince also, and had served many days on his guard as well.

"They say that he is sick, but they have not called on me to heal him, and I have seen no other doctor come through the palace. His room has been guarded day and night and no one will let me in to see him."

It was no surprise that his room was constantly guarded. As a candidate for the imperial throne, he would be a target for their enemy in Dahngrest.With the throne currently empty and only Commandant Alexei in a seat of power, Zaphias, once a bedrock of peace throughout the Empire, felt vulnerable. Flynn believed, though, that the Commandant was succeeding in doing his best for the sake of their country.

"I will check in on him today myself. I'm sure they just don't want you getting sick as well. Once I learn of his condition, I will let you know."

"Thank you so much, Flynn." She took a few steps back and her guards joined her once more. She waved a goodbye with her small, gloved hand and went back to taking her daily walk around the garden.

Flynn went to the barracks and reported to his supervisor. While receiving his assignment, he asked about Ioder as well, and was given the same reply Estellise had been given. He was reported to be ill and was recovering in the privacy of his royal suite. He didn't ask further questions and still planned on stopping in to see him on his dinner hour. For the time being though, he was ordered to take up guard duty in the prison. Apparently one of the prisoners there was a spy from Dahngrest and the Commandant didn't want the regular Knights being on guard over someone with potentially deadly skills. His supervisor said that the man had attacked an imperial noble without provocation and was being held as a war criminal.

With that, he headed down into the basement and to the palace prison where the prisoner of war was being held. This was going to be a boring evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: You may have guessed it by now, but yes, _No Such Thing As Fate_ is a rewrite of the game. Before you hit the close button on your browser, hear me out. 1. There are some things that are the same as the game, including bits of dialogue, but for the most part, things have changed and drastically. 2. It's completed, so you won't have to worry about me losing interest in it half way. 3. I worked for a full year (November 7 2012 - November 7 2013) and I worked very hard to make a game rewrite that would surpass everyone's hopes. It's not a game rewrite with an added character or something like that. Things are very different.

Thank you for giving _No Such Thing As Fate_ a chance and I hope you enjoy it.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

He was pretty well used to prison cells. If you had been in one, you'd really been in them all. One thing that was constant between Zaphias and Dahngrest was the way the prison cells looked. The interrogation had been pretty rough, but he had been forced to bear bruises and wounds much worse than a few angry knights could inflict. It hadn't taken them much to discover why he was there. A quick survey of his items gave them all the information that they needed. Once they found he was from Dahngrest and a guild member, their treatment of him became only harsher.

"Heyya neighbor." The voice from the cell next to his bore a familiar twang and a lazy, rough dialect he recognized as being from Tolbyccia. "Yer awful quiet over there. Whaterya in fer?"

"What's it to you, Old Man?"

"Old Man? Now you've hurt this old man's feelings."

"Sorry, Old Man. I'm not much for chatting."

"How about I tell ya a tale then? I know a lot of em. I got a great one about the Pirate King Aefried's hidden treasure, or this crazy island off in the northwestern sea, or the famous spa far to the west..."

Their conversation was cut off by the prison door opening, and the feet of many knights approaching. A silver haired man dressed in red passed by his cell without a second look, and two Royal Guards followed him. They stopped at the next cell, and with a motion of his hand, ordered the guards to unlock the cell door and drag the man there out. He was a scruffy, middle aged man dressed in purple with a slumped posture and his spiky brown hair in a high ponytail. Yuri knew him, but made no inkling before the assembled Knights to indicate that. It wasn't his presence that he was surprised about, so much as the silver haired man's.

It was a rare sight to see Commandant Alexei. With the ongoing war between the Empire and the Guilds, he kept himself cloistered up in the imperial palace for safety. It wasn't far from belief to think that assassins from Dahngrest would be more than happy to take him out of the picture.

The man from the next cell over stumbled a moment, dropping something on the floor rather intentionally. He stood and with a little movement of his foot, slid the object across the floor and between the bars of the cell. It was a lock pick. He shifted a bit, acting like he was stretching, and covered the lock pick with one of his legs. Being captured had been an inevitability for both of them. Although this had not been a desirable outcome, they had planned for this.

The Commandant left, a few of the knights dragging the old man along behind him. The single guard left to watch him seemed pointless since he could barely move. He couldn't see what time of day it was from in here, but he assumed that it was getting late since the guards mentioned a shift change. After a while longer, the first guard left and another came in. He was not quite the usual Royal Guard, but Yuri couldn't say that he minded.

The blond was tall, very close in height to himself, with a lean and muscular form and eyes the color of the clear autumn sky.

"It's not often I get the pleasure of being guarded by one of the Commandant's personal guards." He managed to lean up against the rails.

The blond ignored him.

"What's it take to get a decent meal around here?"

"Meal time isn't for another two hours."

Oh, this one was going to be tough. A challenge like this would be something worthwhile even while in a prison cell. "Are those keys in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

The blond shifted an angry, steely glance over to him. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, it's pretty cold in this cell. How about you come warm me up?"

"I don't know what the hell you're going on about, but if you don't quiet down, I'll knock you out."

Yuri was flabbergasted. Many times before, he had succeeded in seducing his way out of jail or other troubling situations. It had never failed before now. No prison guard before had been able to resist his charms. This was unprecedented. Was this boy just so dense that he couldn't see when he was being propositioned?

Either way, he had to distract the stalwart knight in order to get a chance at picking the lock. Right now though, he watched over Yuri eagle-eyed and unmoving. He leaned back against the bed. Maybe it would be best to get a little sleep for right now. Maybe the next guard could be more easily swayed. He needed a little time to heal before he would be able to do too much escaping anyway. If he was lucky, they were still determining the date of his execution. The body of a guild member hanging from the walls of this pure white city certainly would be a sight to behold. Not that he was going to let it come to that. He just had to bide his time and wait until he could catch either this knight off guard or the next. As soon as he had a glimpse of freedom, he would take it.

It was late when he was woken by the slamming of the prison door and the flurry of footsteps that came running down the stairs. A commotion just beyond the door worried him a great deal for whatever could be hampering his escape. The blond guard seemed to be startled by it as well.

Yuri rolled up off the straw cot groggily and took a couple of steps to the cell door.

"Flynn!"

Through the arched doorway came a young woman wearing an opulent dress with short pink hair. She was nearly shaking as she ran up to the guard, grabbing his arm.

"Lady Estellise, what's wrong?"

"It's Ioder and Alexei and the capital..." She was panting, probably from having run down the numerous flights of stairs that surely littered the castle uselessly. "Alexei has Ioder and I... I don't know what he's doing, but the whole castle is filling up with aer! He said something about the 'Child of the Full Moon' and sent the Royal Guard to apprehend me! He's mad! If the flow of aer keeps increasing it could start to leak out into the city and endanger the citizens."

Whatever was going on, it didn't sound good. It sounded a lot like Yuri needed to make his escape soon. It appeared as though the guard was also filled with this sense of urgency.

"I will see you safely out of the palace, and then I'll come back for Master Ioder. I don't know what Commandant Alexei is thinking, but if he's endangering the citizens of Zaphias, then he must be stopped." He took the young woman by the hand and headed toward the stairs.

Finally, he could make good his escape.

"Wait, Flynn. What about him?"

Yuri was surprised as she nodded back toward his cell, and the blond was too.

"He's a spy from Dahngrest."

"We can't just leave him here. If the aer gets too dense, he could die."

_Shit._

A look of reluctance passed over the guard's face, but he must have known that the young woman was only telling the truth. As he approached the cell, Yuri had a passing thought that maybe this guy wasn't too bad, just a little dense. But as soon as he saw the man brandishing a pair of shackles, he knew that he wasn't going to get out of this easily. "You're right, Lady Estellise. He may be a criminal, but we can't just leave him here to die."

Yuri supposed he could always escape later when the timing was better. It wouldn't be too hard to get away from one Royal Guard, or knock him out when the opportunity presented itself. He let the blond shackle him and nearly drag him out of the cell.

"Don't get any ideas about escaping."

"I'm more concerned with getting out of here alive." It was the truth.

He looked at him shiftily. It was no secret that he believed that Yuri couldn't be trusted. At least this guy had a sense of morals and was deciding to not let him rot away in a prison cell while the whole capital crumbled around him. He had seen before what could happen when the aer in an area was too dense, and he was no fan of having that happen to himself. He also knew that if the pink haired noble girl had not said anything, he may have indeed been left behind.

The blond motioned for him to go first on the way up the stairs and they followed. He didn't argue. It didn't surprise him that the knight was so cautious of him, especially since he had seen some of the propaganda that the Empire was passing out to its citizens. It wasn't completely inaccurate in Yuri's case. He was surprised, however, when the young lady pulled his equipment out of a nearby chest and shouldered it. His sword was thankfully among the collected items. Once he got that, he could break away. That hope died a little when the knight briefly tried to fuss at her, but instead just took the sword and tied it beside his own on his thick belt. Damn it.

They moved up through the basement to the main area of the castle where Yuri had never been, but it looked pretty much like what he expected. Empty feeling halls filled with uselessly ornate decorations that served no purpose whatsoever other than to showcase how wealthy the imperial family was. The opulence and the waste that must have been caused in such a place made his stomach turn. Even the wealthiest of citizens in Dahngrest didn't live like this, and all of them had earned their fortunes, rather than having it handed to them by family. How anyone could live like this was beyond him, especially with the way he knew that the people from the Lower Quarter lived.

One superfluous hallway led to another. The young lady hadn't been exaggerating. The aer was pooling like a gentle looking green mist. He knew the truth about it. He received a wary glance from the blond every few seconds, who was using his now drawn sword as a pointing device. Finally, a large doorway stood before them. Yuri assumed that it was the entrance.

"Where do you think you're going?"

* * *

Even on the battlefield, he couldn't remember ever feeling so panicked. The words that Estellise told him about Commandant Alexei having gone mad hadn't quite sunken in, even as they were forced to move carefully through the clouds of aer that were quickly filling the palace. If it became too much more dense, then it would become over saturated and turn red. He knew from experience that if that happened, it would prove lethal.

As that voice came echoing down the hall behind them, he stopped in his tracks. He didn't recognize the voice, but he didn't like the sound of it at all.

"Prepare to die, Flynn Scifo!"

Flynn turned quickly to see a man in black charging him, knives spinning in his hands, ready to strike. He blocked with his sword, and pushed the man back a few steps.

He came at him once more.

"Who are you?!"

"I'm Zagi, the man who will kill you!"

He didn't have time for this. The thickness of the aer was making it difficult to breathe. He had to get Estellise to safety and then discover what was really going on in the palace. What could Alexei be up to and who was this crazy person?

Flynn blocked with his shield and aimed for the man's upper body, well above his center of gravity. Zagi dodged smoothly and easily, spinning a moment before coming back in slashing wildly. He stayed behind his shield, waiting for an opening and after a few seconds of crazed movement, he paused to catch his breath. Flynn pulled back and then charged forward as hard as he could, knocking the man several yards down the hall.

"Flynn, I'll help!"

"No, Lady Estellise! Stay back."

"Give me my sword. I'll give you a hand." The dark haired prisoner took a few steps toward him, but Flynn maintained his fighting stance, putting a little distance between them. He didn't want to risk the man grabbing his sword and attempting to make an escape while he was distracted in battle.

"Damn it!"

"At least let me heal you!"

Zagi shook off the bits of a vase that he had smashed into, and came back for more. He jumped up and using all his weight, spiked himself down toward Flynn, his bladed feet aimed for a head strike. Flynn ducked behind his shield, hunkering down against the floor. The crazed man struck his shield with more force than Flynn had expected from someone who moved with such agility. It sent him tumbling down, flat on his back on the marble. He hit his head on the floor, momentarily knocking the wind out of him and he had no time to recover as Zagi began a frenzied attack against his face and chest.

"This is so much fun, Flynn! Don't die yet!"

The dark haired man swore, rushing forward, and Estellise behind him. He tried to push Zagi off. At this rate, the princess could get hurt or worse. With all his might, he pushed his shield upward, thrusting Zagi up and allowing him a split second to break free. At his right side, Estellise knelt briefly and in a flash of green, the pain from his injuries dissipated.

On his left, the man from Dahngrest grabbed the handle of his own sword that Flynn was carrying, and drew it while handcuffed. He was fast, but Flynn didn't have time to admire that since his prisoner was charging forward to face Zagi, who had once more recovered.

"Thank you, Lady Estellise." Flynn got to his feet as fast as he could to get back into the fray. His prisoner may have carried a sword, but Flynn had no idea what he was capable of, and once this enemy was defeated, would the known spy turn the blade on him? He couldn't risk that.

He had to admit that the man was pretty handy with a sword, even while shackled, as he fended off several blows. If he could handle himself this well while handicapped, he would be a formidable foe without such a hindrance. That made him a danger. Disarming him now though, was not an option. Instead, he concentrated all his energy and waited for the moment to strike.

Screaming and cackling, Zagi came at them. Yuri moved in to attack again, but Flynn surpassed him in a dash. His blade scraped against the marble, throwing up blue sparks and he stopped, letting the glow created continue across the ground and hit Zagi. The force tossed him up in the air. He fell against the marble hard, and when he didn't move after a moment, Flynn presumed him unconscious.

"Flynn! Are you alright?" Estellise was at his side in an instant, patting his arms and chest to make sure that she had healed him properly.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Lady Estellise."

"Yeah yeah. That's great and all, but we should be getting out of here."

Flynn snatched the sword from the dark haired man's hand when he was the least bit off guard and sheathed it once more. He wasn't at all pleased with that, but when he went to complain, another voice came from behind him.

"So, Zagi was useless." This was a voice he recognized, and that chilled him to the bones. "I see."

"Alexei!"

At the end of the hall, Zagi was gone, and now the Commandant stood there, looking annoyed. Behind him, in a swirling bubble of red energy, was Prince Ioder. He appeared to be in a sleeping state, his eyes closed tightly and his face wracked with pain.

"Master Ioder!" Flynn's fingers tightened around his sword. Why was he having to hold it against someone he respected so much? "Commandant, what are you doing?"

"It's none of your concern. Return Princess Estellise to me at once."

"Stop this madness!"

"You have no idea, boy. Just give me the girl and I'll let you live."

"What the hell are you doing to that kid? Whatever you're up to, it can't be good!" the spy called from behind Flynn.

When it was clear that Flynn was not going to surrender, Alexei's face twisted in annoyance. He raised his arm up, palm flat. Red energy sparked in his hand and all around the bubble that was encasing Ioder.

"What of your ideals, Commandant?! Those who seek justice will lead lives of prosperity?!"

"Foolish notions." The energy in his hand shot out a bright beam of light toward them, but Flynn's shield barely held it back.

From behind Alexei stepped a Kritya woman that Flynn recognized as Lady Khroma, Alexei's confidant. With a simple flick of her wrist and the barest utterance of "Gale Storm", a fierce wind whipped through the hall, throwing open the doors behind them. It pushed them back with the intensity of a hurricane.

With a scream, Estellise flew out the open doors.

"Lady Estellise!"

Against that wind, the dark haired man had no hope while in shackles, and even as he fought to hold his ground, it swept him away also. And Flynn was left with a choice. Protect Estellise from whatever Alexei was planning and temporarily abandon Ioder, or try against all odds to save Ioder and risk losing them both. A strategic retreat was the best option, but he didn't have the time to choose as the winds got stronger and pushed him straight out of the palace. He tumbled down the front steps and hit the gate with the full force of his body. Before he could scramble to his feet, the castle door slammed shut and a glowing red field covered it.

"Flynn, are you alright?" Estellise rushed to his side to help him up.

He shook off the disorientation rattling his brain and ambled up. He ignored her question, his mind full of too many other things to be concerned with his own health. He bounded right up to the door. He tried to open it, but the red glow shocked him as soon as he touched the gilded handle. He tried again, but it was sealed tightly by some sort of magic.

"I don't know about you, but we should really get out of here."

Flynn whipped around to look at the spy who was attempting to untangle himself from a bush with mixed success. He stopped, looking beyond the gate and into the darkened city. After a few seconds, Flynn also heard the noise that must have alerted him. The thunder of boots across paving stone, the grind of plates of metal armor, swords at the ready. A brigade of knights, wearing uniforms of pink, was approaching quickly.

At the head of them, stood a man in a similar uniform, but with a flowing cape, milk white skin, and long periwinkle hair. He was smiling in a manner that made Flynn very uncomfortable.

"It appears as though Lieutenant Scifo has teamed up with the Union spy to kidnap Lady Estellise."

"Captain Cumore, please listen-"

"He's not exactly the listening type. He's already come to his conclusion." The spy wrenched himself forcefully from the bush, breaking off all manner of leaves, flowers, and branches in his long, black hair.

"Kill them both and take the Princess into custody."

He wanted to try and explain to Cumore and get his assistance against Alexei, but he knew that it was unlikely. Cumore hated him, and all those in the ranks of the Imperial Knights who weren't of noble birth. A retreat was indeed in order now. With the brigade blocking the front gate, how were they going to get out? The dark haired man was already ahead of him on that account, too.

"Come on!"

Flynn didn't think twice. He grabbed Estellise's hand and they followed the man around through the gardens. They found a statue that depicted the goddess, knelt in prayer. The prisoner shoved his weight against it, pressing his shoulder against the stone. It gave way a little, and then finally revealed a ladder leading down into darkness hidden underneath.

"Get moving!" He shouted, urging them down in the dark hole. They found a walkway below, and he jumped down to meet them. He pulled the statue back over the secret entrance, and turned to sigh with relief. He stopped before Flynn's drawn sword.

"Who are you?"

"Can this wait until after we've gotten out of here? If the castle is filling up with aer, then these tunnels will be soon, too." He didn't appear the least bit threatened.

He reluctantly lowered his sword, but it remained in his hand. There were bigger problems right now. "Lead the way."

The prisoner turned and started down the tunnels, Flynn and Estellise in tow. Flynn motioned to the princess to stay close behind him in case the man should try to draw his sword that still hung at Flynn's side and try to attack them.

The catacombs under the palace had long been a legend, but he found that their halls were very real and numbered even more than the halls of the palace above. They had probably once been used as an escape route for the royal family in case of danger. These paths were too well made, and were still lit with blastia lights, to be anything else. But how had a young man from Dahngrest known about them, and how to access them? He didn't bother to keep that question to himself.

"An old knight told me about them once over a few drinks."

Flynn merely shook his head in disgust before continuing the questioning. "Why were you in Zaphias?"

"Guy can't take a vacation once in a while?"

He glared at the back of the man's head for a moment. "I was told you were a spy."

"Jeez. The things they make up these days."

"If you're not a spy, then what are you doing here?"

"I'm chasing a blastia thief."

Flynn was skeptical. Even if he was telling the truth, he was still a criminal who had broken into a nobleman's house and attempted to assault said nobleman. This made the possibility of him being potentially dangerous high. These were things a normal person wouldn't do.

The silence stretched uncomfortably between them, but thankfully, he could finally smell fresh air over the musty scent of the empty tunnels.

"Here we are." The spy lifted one leg and kicked out the metal grate that stood between them and the world beyond the barrier. He stepped out first, and scanned the surroundings. "The coast is clear."

Cautiously, Flynn stepped out, and then Estellise after him. The passage had taken them to the furthest wall of the city.

"What are we going to do now, Flynn?"

"We should go to Deidon Hold. Some of the Schwann Brigade is stationed there. We can get backup and go back for Master Ioder."

"That's a bad idea."

Flynn turned angrily to the spy, an argument ready on his lips.

"Think about it. There was an assassin after you. That weasel Cumore seems to be siding with Alexei, who has finally shown his true colors. The Knights at Deidon Hold wouldn't think twice about arresting you, no matter what you tell them is happening. Are they really going to believe one Royal Guard who is telling them that the Commandant is up to no good?"

He didn't want to admit that this person was right. An angry heat rose in his chest. "I have to do whatever it takes to save Master Ioder."

"And that'll take you right to the executioner's block. You have a princess with you. A lot of things here could easily be construed as treason. But do whatever you want to. Although, if you really wanna save that kid, there's got to be a better way to do it."

"Maybe he's right."

"Lady Estellise..."

"I don't know what Alexei is doing. We should find an expert on aer and see if we can determine what is going on. Once we have proper evidence, we can plan our return. I only hope that Ioder will be alright until then."

"If that is what you think, then we will head to Aspio. There are many scholars there. Surely one of them will be able to help us. But how will we get there without passing through Deidon Hold?"

"I know a way." The dark haired man took a few steps away from them. "There's some monsters, but if you don't mind fighting, I can show it to you."

"What's the catch?" It wasn't like a guildsman to offer their services freely, even if the tides were not currently in their favor.

"Let me go and I'll show you the way."

"No."

"Good luck finding it on your own then."

"Maybe a compromise would be ideal in this situation." Estellise spoke up, speaking calmly and authoritatively. "Whatever Alexei is doing, it can't be good for the Empire or for the Guilds. Right now, it's in our best interest to work together."

The man looked at her a little surprised.

"I can't promise you freedom, since by our laws, you are still a criminal, but perhaps we can work out another mutually beneficial arrangement."

"What could you possibly offer me otherwise?" He snorted in brief amusement. Someone of his type didn't care much for laws or compromise.

"I don't know. Please give me some time. I give you my word."

"Fine. Follow me."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: I think that this chapter is a good early example of how things are simultaneous similar and different.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

The princess was hardier than he’d expected. She had a sword and a small shield of her own, and while it was obvious that killing monsters gave her no joy, she did it without complaint. What annoyed him was that the knight wouldn't return his own sword or unshackle him, so he was left on the sidelines or was forced to fight with his fists and feet in the battles that followed their flight from Zaphias. It wasn't like he was unaccustomed to that.

He led the princess and the knight, Estellise and Flynn, across the plains and into the forest to the northwest of Zaphias. They followed a long-unused hunting path through the darkening forest.

"What's this?" The young woman paused to look at something lying beside the path. She leaned over the fallen metal obelisk, her fingers gently running over its worn surface.

"It appears to be a blastia of some sort."

Yuri turned to urge them onward. There wasn't a lot of time to dawdle since they didn't know how far behind them the Knights could be trailing. As he did, the blastia began to glow beneath her fingers. She pulled back in surprise and as it dimmed, her eyelids fluttered and she slumped into a faint. The knight caught her, gently but worriedly calling her name as he laid her out on a patch of soft grass.

"She okay?"

"I'm sure she's just exhausted." That didn't sound like a complete lie, but he knew that they were both hiding something. "We'll make camp here."

He propped her up a little with Yuri's pack and started up a small campfire. He watched Yuri cautiously as he rummaged along the tree line for food, but there wasn't much available this season that was edible, so they would be forced to rely on the rations in his bag.

"It's not much, but I've got some food in my pack. I'm sure she'll be hungry when she wakes up." He rattled the shackles a little, pushing them off his cut up wrists. They didn't have enough give for him to slip out of them. The lock pick was still in his pocket, but it was difficult to maneuver to without getting the knight's attention. He was an alert one.

"Make yourself useful."

Yuri flopped defiantly down in the grass. "Unshackle me and I will."

Silence was his answer as he got the fire blazing.

"Flynn...?" The pink haired girl woke, sitting up slowly. She rubbed her eyes and looked groggily around the clearing that they had settled in.

"Lady Estellise, are you all right?" The knight was at her side in an instant. It was almost sickening how faery tale perfect they seemed to be.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you. I don't know what came over me."

"You must be exhausted. We've made camp, so please rest. I'll prepare dinner."

She sat up, dusting off her skirt a little. After only a few hours of travel, it was already rough and tattered. The finery of a noble wasn't made for the real world. "Now that we have a chance to rest, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Estellise." She extended her hand, open palm out to him.

"Yuri Lowell." He looked at her outstretched hand incredulously.

"It's a handshake. It means 'I'm pleased to meet you'."

He laughed, but it was a little cold. "Never thought an Imperial Princess would be 'pleased' to meet me."

"If we're going to be traveling together, we should at least be civil." Her smile was gentle and genuine. "Flynn."

The knight looked at him, not at all pleased. "Flynn Scifo, lieutenant in the Royal Guard." He went back to preparing dinner, the smell of which already had Yuri's stomach in knots. This did not bode well.

"So, Estelle--" He started to ask her a question, but he noticed that she was instead distracted.

"Estelle.... Estelle...." She tested that name on her tongue. "I like that."

Suddenly his question was lost and he was left a little baffled. Most people didn't take to the nicknames he gave them so quickly. He was broken out of his surprise when Flynn presented him with a bowl, filled with stew of some sort, and Yuri just looked up at him. "How am I supposed to eat like this?" He shook the shackles that clanked against his bracelet.

"You'll figure it out."

"And there is no way I'm eating that."

"Fine. Go hungry."

Yuri glanced over at the princess who sat by the fire, a slight tinge of green to her face after eating only a spoonful of the slop. "Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't have the stomach for your cooking."

"You haven't even tried it."

"And I won't."

Flynn looked to Estelle also. "Is everything all right, Lady Estellise?"

She hid her grimace with a pleasant, but fake smile. "Oh, yes. I'm just not terribly hungry."

"Why don't you let me cook? I actually know how to."

The blond eyed him suspiciously.

"I've got a really great recipe for Dahngrest style curry." Sex hadn't tempted this knight, maybe food would.

"Oh! I've heard wonderful things about the style of curry served by chefs in Dahngrest, but I've never tried it before." It certainly tempted a certain princess. "It couldn't hurt. Right, Flynn? Traveling will be easier if he's not shackled, too."

The knight was still understandably worried, but he looked resigned. "All right. Only because Lady Estellise has taken mercy on you. But if you try anything..."

"I got it." Yuri smirked his widest, only making Flynn more cautious as he unlocked the shackles. He rubbed his scarred wrists for a moment before getting to work. From his pack, he pulled his pot and spice set and the ingredients. Flynn watched him, questioning each bit of vegetable and every spice. When he was finished, he served it, and took the first bite in full view of Flynn, who was waiting and watching anxiously. When he didn't die from poison after a few moments, he deemed it safe to eat.

It didn't take long for dinner to be consumed. The princess had a larger appetite than he had expected.

"Yuri, that was wonderful! Where did you learn how to cook like that?"

"The Wonder Chef in Dahngrest. I trained under him so I could cook for Gramps."

"So your grandfather lives in Dahngrest?"

"You could say that." He stood and stretched, glad to be free of his bonds. "So, what do you intend to do with me now that Zaphias is becoming a shit storm of aer?"

"You work for Altosk, right?" Flynn produced Yuri's Comrade Crest, which bore his guild symbol. "Surely, you know Don Whitehorse. Once we know what is going on, I plan to ask for his aid in reclaiming the capital."

It was a quick jump from collecting evidence to asking the enemy for assistance.

"What reason does he have to help you?" 

"Right now, Commandant Alexei is a danger to both the Empire and the Guilds."

"Knowing the Old Man, he'll probably just let the Empire destroy itself, but do whatever you want." Yuri took the pot of slop and moved to the outer perimeter of the camp.

"What are you doing?" Flynn reached for his sword.

"Relax. This will help keep the monsters away." He poured it out in a long, thin stream encircling the camp. He walked backwards, careful not to step in it. "Think of it as a barrier of sorts."

"Doesn't food attract monsters, though?" Estelle asked innocently.

"Normally, but even starving ones wouldn't come near this stuff."

The blond scowled.

"So, you're going to ransom me for aid?' Yuri smirked. "Hate to break it to you, but a little guild member like me doesn't mean anything to the Don."

"I was not planning on ransoming you! That is a vile, devious tactic!"

"Then what's with the shackles?"

"You are still a criminal, whether or not we're at war. You will be brought to justice. You will be staying in my custody until such a time as I can bring the weight of the law on you." This goody-goody knight was grating on his nerves.

"Guy tries to handle a blastia thief on his own and the Knights get all up in arms."

"You attacked a citizen of the Empire, thief or not. I don't know what sort of law you're used to in Dahngrest, but you are not above the law here."

"The world's not really that black and white, you know."

"Please stop fighting, both of you. The Empire or the Guild, peace or war, we're going to have to work together to get to Aspio and then Dahngrest safely." Estelle was quickly becoming the voice of reason between the two of them and they hadn't even been traveling together for a single day. He was getting the feeling that this was going to be a very, very long trip.

The knight grew silent, seemingly a little ashamed of himself even though their argument had no clear victor.

A long howl shattered the quiet of the forest around them. Flynn reached for his blade once more, but Yuri cupped his hands around his mouth and returned the noise.

"What are you doing?!"

"Letting my partner know where I am."

"Your partner?" Estelle asked.

"Give him a minute."

Out of the tree line, on a monster trail, came Repede, slinking out of the brush. He paused briefly to look at them and then trotted up. He stopped abruptly at the 'barrier' Yuri had formed with Flynn's cooking and looked at him with a whine.

"It's okay, Repede."

He whined again and backed up a few steps. He flicked his tail in annoyance and jumped over the barrier. Snorting to get the scent out of his nose, Repede moved directly to Yuri. He sat down, eying Flynn and Estelle.

"This is my partner, Repede."

The dog woofed.

"I'm Estelle." She extended her hand to him, too. He sniffed it briefly before getting up and walking over to Flynn. She pouted a little.

"Sorry. He doesn't really like most people..."

Repede sniffed a perturbed Flynn's face. After a moment, he licked him and began wagging his tail. Flynn just looked at him in disbelief.

"I stand somewhat corrected." Then Yuri muttered to himself. "Don't know why he'd like you of all people."

The warrior dog came back and sniffed at the empty bowl Yuri had eaten from. 

"Of course I made enough for you, too."

Yuri filled the bowl with the last bit of the curry, which the dog scarfed down quickly. After licking the bowl clean, he let out a sort of contented sigh and lay down behind Yuri, curling around him. He scratched the dog behind the ear and his tail wagged momentarily.

"Did you get a track on that Mordio guy's scent?"

The dog woofed softly and then growled.

"I see. Maybe we can pick it up in Halure."

"Wait... Yuri... Can you actually understand what Repede is saying?"

"Of course I can. We're partners." 

Estelle looked at him in disbelief as people often did when he said that he could speak with the dog and understand the responses. He was used to it now. No one else shared the same connection that he had with Repede. Sometimes that was a blessing, because he could talk to the dog when he couldn't talk to anyone else. Sometimes it was a curse, evident by the numerous glances that he got from people who assumed he was crazy.

"So, who is this Mordio and why are you after him?" Flynn asked. "I know I've heard that name somewhere before. I just can't place it."

"He's a thief who stole some blastia in Dahngrest." He didn't want to go much further than that into the actual problem. They didn't need specifics. He was just as suspicious of Flynn as the other way around. He had to be careful with the amount of information that he let out. They needn't know about his true intentions for this thief.

"You still cannot take the law into your own hands."

Yuri shrugged off the blond's seemingly default response. "We'll reach Halure tomorrow. We should rest while we can."

"I'll take the first watch." Flynn pulled the lone blanket out of Yuri's pack and handed it to Estelle, who was nodding off sitting up by the fire. She was understandably still worn out from the traveling that her noble form could not have been used to, and as she laid down with her head on the pack, he draped the blanket over her.

"Me too."

"We only need one person on watch."

"You don't trust me. I don't trust you."

Flynn seemed offended by that, as if he believed himself beyond suspicion just because of his fancy red uniform. He should have known that a guildsman's trust was not given easily, especially to a dog of the Empire. The same was true from the other side.

* * *

 

The sunrise saw Flynn with very little sleep. At some point, Yuri had drifted off and he had allowed himself to drop his guard just a little. The dog Yuri called his partner seemed to remain alert for the remainder of the night. Even though the night had given them a glimmer of peace and calm, his nerves were frazzled as he rose, and what little sleep he had gotten had been riddled with nightmares of the Commandant and what fate could have been befalling Ioder and the capital.

He woke to Yuri complaining about waking up to Repede licking him. The bits and pieces he could get out of the conversation between Yuri and Estellise were about cooking. Flynn sat up, his limbs and eyes heavy with sleep. Yuri disappeared into the tree line for a few moments and returned with a pot of water.

Estellise presented him with a plate of somewhat burnt eggs and toast and a weak cup of coffee, but his stomach was grateful for the meal. The curry they had eaten the night before had been good, as much as he resented admitting it to himself. The spy must have helped her cook this breakfast.

"Lady Estellise, you don't need to demean yourself by doing such tasks."

"She decided for herself that she wanted to learn, so I taught her a bit."

"It's a few days until we get to Aspio, and it's not fair for Yuri to be the only one cooking. So, I thought if I learned a little, it would be helpful."

He wanted to complain, but busied his mouth instead by filling it. He would have plenty of time to argue with his prisoner over bigger issues later in the trip. He could feel it coming. Yuri seemed like the kind of person to disagree with him on everything.

"We'll be in Halure this afternoon. Hopefully, the Knights haven't come that far looking for you yet. We do have a small problem though."

"What?"

"Both of you stick out in a crowd. Your clothing makes you both dead giveaways as to who you are." He was right. The red Royal Guard uniform that he wore was easily distinguishable, maybe even more than Estellise's dress. They wanted to maintain a low profile so as not to be noticed. The problem was that neither had thought to bring any traveling gear, much less a sensible change of clothing. As it was, they were relying on the captured spy for food, which was already ill advised.

"What do you propose?"

"I've got a cloak that you can wear as temporary measure, Estelle, but as for Flynn..."

Flynn hesitated for just a moment before taking off the uniform and revealing a simple, white shirt underneath. The symbol that was the pride of the Empire could easily betray them and while he didn't care about Yuri, he couldn't endanger Estellise. He folded it neatly and put it toward the bottom of Yuri's pack. Although it felt unnatural still for him to wear, he felt naked without it on and right now, he had no choice.

"Well, that'll fix that for now."

Once in Halure, they could procure some inexpensive traveling clothes and some basic supplies, so that if Yuri managed to escape, they wouldn't be completely stranded.

Flynn hardly noticed as they cleaned up the campsite and began the trek through the forest once more.

What would his father think? Here he was, collaborating, even if unwillingly, with the enemy and taking his aid. He had turned his blade against his superior officer and had ignored orders. There were mitigating circumstances, but that did little to ease his conscience. His father had been buried only a week earlier and the Empire had apparently gone to hell. Worse yet, he was planning to go directly to the enemy's territory and ask for help. He couldn't let his pride get in the way of the safety of the Empire's citizens. If he needed the help of the enemy, then he would do his best to acquire it.

Finally, the forest gave way once more to long, rolling, hilly plains, and in the distance they could see a huge tree with a mass of pink at the top. At its roots, there was the barest silhouette of a village, and above, the telltale white, sparkling rings of a barrier. There didn't seem to be any evidence of knights this far yet, an encampment or otherwise. Flynn was grateful for that much. He wanted to get to Aspio without incident. Repede's ears perked up and he turned toward the city, alert.

From the west, a great cloud of dust rolled across the plain. As it grew near to Halure, they realized what it was.

"We need to get there as fast as possible. Something's wrong."

Their pace quickened across the grass, until they could finally see it. A horde of monsters like Flynn had never seen before. At the head was a Rhinosuss of enormous size, charging toward the great tree.

"What is that thing?"

"He's called the Lord of the Plains." Yuri turned to Flynn, his hand out. "I need my sword."

He paused. Putting a weapon in the hands of a dangerous man was a serious thing to consider, but if they did not act quickly, the village could be in danger. Before he could think or act too much further, Yuri snatched the sword off his belt.

"I don't have time to wait for someone who hesitates so much." A quick dash had Yuri and Repede ahead of them, his sword drawn and ready to battle the swarm all on his own if need be.

"Let's go, Flynn. We need to help them."

"You're right."

They moved in behind Yuri, Flynn at the front, cutting his way through the monsters and Estellise behind supporting him with her artes. The dark haired man was still ahead of them by far, fighting with strength that his slender form did not betray. He moved with such grace and ease that Flynn was somewhat impressed. His style was reckless, but destructive, and his guard never seemed to lower. He left even multiple enemies no openings as he used sword arte after sword arte, and he never seemed to tire. He didn't fight like some common thug, although his swiftly delivered kicks and punches showed some use of the street fighting skill. He had been trained and to any enemy at the end of his blade, he was a lethal force.

Through the clamoring of a hundred monster feet, trampling the ground with an earth shaking force, he could hear a tiny cry for help. He downed a Treant quickly and headed in the direction of the call. Several wolves were pressing inward on the small child, seemingly unharmed even through the stampede. As he lunged forward, a lumbering Rhinosuss charged at him, blocking his way. But Yuri had also heard the cry and fearlessly leapt in, grabbing the little girl by the back of her dress. He cradled her in his right arm, close to his body as he downed two of the wolves with a single strike. The others moved against him angrily. Repede intercepted for him, his knife whirling and teeth bared, snarling, as he allowed his partner to escape to take the child to safety. He leaned his head low, and spoke to her and she nodded and clung to him for dear life.

Flynn slew the Rhinosuss after a moment of struggle and moved on to help Repede. The thunder of hooves increased tenfold and the biggest monster of the pack, the one that Yuri had called the Lord of the Plains, was charging at them. He cast his mighty head to one side, throwing Repede and himself in the air. He reared, his dark tusks shining in the sunlight as he tried to knock them again or gore them. Flynn hit the back of the Lord's neck and as soon as his did, he scrambled forward toward the creature's head through the mass of dirty, wiry fur. Yuri was already there. He no longer had the child in his arms, but now had his sword in one hand, holding onto a clump of the beast’s fur with the other. Repede hit the ground on all four feet and dashed away from the creature, the little girl clinging to his back. Their movements as a team were lightning fast. 

The Lord reared again, trying in vain to buck Yuri off, and Flynn landed on the back of its neck. Yuri waited for a few seconds for an opening. The Lord of the Plains' heavy feet hit the ground and he took his chance to strike. He raised his sword high, and then plunged it into the creature's eye.

The great beast cried out in a high-pitched shriek of pain and terror, and he shook violently, throwing them to the ground. Rather then fight further, the half blinded monster and the remainder of his horde retreated back toward the western plains.

As soon as it was safe, Estellise rushed over to them, casting her healing artes over them in a flash of green. Yuri stood first, doubled over and laughing of all things.

"Guess we showed him!"

He wanted to complain, to yell at the man for his sheer recklessness, how he could have gotten them all killed, but he was still breathless and wordless. Flynn decided to leave it alone for now and just be glad that fight was over and the city was seemingly safe. He would have more of an argument in him later on after a bit of rest.

They continued on into the city of Halure. This early in the year, the tree was already blooming, the pink petals wafted through the city on the spring breeze. Above them, the barrier that had seemed so definite from a distance, was now looked to be faltering. Its white rings wavered and dimmed.

Beside them, staring up, Yuri cursed.

"What's wrong with the barrier here?" Flynn asked.

"Every year when the tree is in bloom, the barrier weakens. This is because the blastia that powers the barrier is fused to the tree." Estellise piped up. When Yuri looked at her curiously, she smiled meekly. "I read that in a book."

"Well, you're right. So during the time when the barrier weakens, monsters will take their chance to attack. But it's too early in the year for the tree to be blooming."

"Yuri!"

A boy rushed at them, shouting and waving. He was not even a teenager yet, but he carried a large bag, the strap across his chest, and a long sword handle coming out of one of the flaps. He dashed right up to Yuri, whom he had apparently been calling to, and doubled over, breathing heavily. He took a few moments to catch his breath before continuing. When he began talking, he seemed to have forgotten his original intention and looked instead up to Flynn and Estellise. "Who are these people?"

"This is Estelle. And Flynn, too, I guess." Yuri pointed each one out with his thumb, grimacing a little when introducing the knight.

Flynn had to keep himself from growling. He managed to keep his disdain for the man who seemed to be continually trying his patience down to a scowl.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Karol Capel."

Estellise shook his hand.

"I'm really glad you're finally here, Yuri! The town's been attacked by monsters and the barrier is failing even worse this year! There are a lot of injured people--"

Before he could even finish, Estellise stopped him. "Where are they? I can help."

"This way!" He took her hand easily and ran across a bridge and down a hill.

"She seems like a good kid. We should probably follow them. Wouldn't want to wear the young lady out." He took a step forward, but Flynn stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "What?"

"Who is that child and what is going on here?"

"You ask me like I have all the answers."

"You seem to have quite a lot of them."

"Just an innocent kid from Dahngrest who likes to follow me around. As far as what's going on here, I'm no blastia expert so I couldn't tell you." A long, thin smirk crossed his face, but his eyes were humorless. "Maybe you should stop being so suspicious of me just because I'm from Dahngrest. That's called prejudice. Not everyone who's in a guild is a bad person."

Flynn was taken aback by this. The look he wore could not be mistaken as anything less than absolutely serious. But after a moment of this, Yuri's face softened a bit and he moved on to follow Karol and Estellise. He followed, a little dumbfounded, a hard lump sitting in his throat. They took the same path that the other two had, Repede hanging back behind them, and found a little park at the bottom of a hill. Estellise was there, kneeling beside an injured man and using her healing artes on him. He wanted to warn her to be more careful, but she couldn't stand to see anyone suffering. Someone offered her some money, but she respectfully declined. A small 'heh' escaped from Yuri as he shook his head in amusement.

"Where did you find a healer, Yuri?" Karol approached them once more.

"Oh, you know. I just picked these two up in Zaphias."

"What were you doing there?"

He didn't even miss a beat, making sure that Flynn didn't have a chance to answer for him. "Just some work. Nothing big."

"You should be more careful! If someone were to find out and alert the Knights, you'd get arrested."

Yuri chuckled. It was already too late for that. "Don't worry so much."

The boy didn't seem terribly satisfied when hearing that, but he left it alone. "We have a bigger problem than that. Something's wrong with the tree. That's why the barrier is so weak this early in the year."

"Any idea what's wrong?"

"It's decaying." 

"Oh no! Is there anything that we can do?" Estellise overheard their conversation as she returned to Flynn's side.

"What do you think we should do?" 

"I don't know, but I want to do anything I can to help. If we don't fix the barrier, the monsters will attack these people again."

They didn't really have time, with the Knights possibly being only hours behind them. They needed to get to Aspio. He wanted to help these people. It was his duty, but there were bigger problems and this was something that should have been left for mages and not for a curious princess. They were not equipped for this. 

Flynn opened his mouth to object, but Yuri interjected.

"If that's what you want to do, why don't we go take a look at the tree? Maybe we can find some clue as to what’s going on."

It was agreed, and they all headed up a long, steep hill, Flynn following along quietly. He would allow her to entertain this curiosity in spite of the time crunch they were feeling. He would still suggest moving on. The Knights were not too far behind them and would be able to handle the defense of the city better than four people and a dog could.

They reached the top of the hill in a matter of moments, and stood beneath the tree whose branches hung low and covered in soft, pink blossoms. But even he, knowing so little about the working of blastia and its effect on the natural world, could tell that something was wrong. Winter had barely left the continent of Illycia, and this tree was already in full bloom when the trees in Zaphias were only just budding. The blooming of this tree should be weeks away. The large, black spot staining the ground in front of the tree was suspicious as well.

"The roots of the tree have been absorbing the blood of a lot of the monsters. I think it's making it sick. If we don't do something, it'll wither and die!" Karol explain, fists pumping.

"What should we do?" Estelle's eyes widening as she was getting caught up in his fervor.

"I think a panacea bottle would help, but they're all out at the general store."

"None of us are experts. Are we even sure that something as simple as a panacea bottle would fix the whole problem?" Flynn asked.

Yuri glared at him for doubting the boy. 

"What I'm saying is that we should try to find an expert on natural occurrences of blastia and see what they have to say on the matter. Surely someone in Aspio will know how to fix the barrier here."

"Trying couldn't hurt right, Flynn?" She looked at him as if pleading. "We can't leave things as they are. Let's try Karol's idea and then if that doesn't work, we'll head to Aspio and find help. Is that alright?" He couldn't resist when she asked something of him. It was no different than receiving an order from his superiors.

"If that is what you want..."

"Thank you, Flynn!"

"So, Karol, what do we do?"

"I talked to the guy who runs the general store, and he said that if we get him an eggbear claw, a nia fruit, and a luluria petal, he could make us one. Eggbears and nia fruit can both be found in the Quoi Woods, but I haven't been able to find out where to get the luluria petals."

"Well, why don't we go get the things we can take care of, and worry about the petals last? Someone around town might know where we can get them."

And here Flynn was looking forward to getting to rest a little before continuing to Aspio. He was not prepared for a side quest that would put them back toward the exact place they were fleeing from. If all went well though, they could finish it quickly and be back on the road. Yet, he was wondering who this child was as he watched Yuri, Karol, and Estellise head off back down the hill. Yuri ruffled the boy's hair and they strode along together like a pair of brothers. That made him worry for Karol’s future. What good could come of associating with known criminals? How was the dark haired man influencing the boy in what could easily be negative ways?

Repede barked at him to keep up and he was forced to follow behind.


	4. Chapter 4

 Author's Notes: This chapter is much closer to the original than I am completely comfortable with, but it should at least provide a good contrast for how much things change going forward.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

The Quoi Woods weren't exactly where he wanted to be at this moment, seeing as he had been through them twice now, but there were things much more important than his own comfort. He wanted to be off Illycia and back toward Dahngrest soon, but seeing what they could do to fix the barrier in Halure came first.

“So, what is this eggbear?” Estelle asked.

Yuri was well traveled and had fought a lot of monsters, including an eggbear or two, but let Karol pull a huge leather tome out of his bag and flip through pages of ink drawings with notes scribbled in the margins. Karol had been working on this book for a few years now and it was slowly filling. He stopped flipping at the picture Yuri recognized as their target.

"They're huge with these giant arms and big teeth and really nasty tempers. But they're hard to find."

"So how do we locate one then?"

Karol reached up toward a tree that hung just off the path, reaching for a pink and orange globe shaped fruit. He was still a little too short, even when up on the tips of his toes, so Yuri grabbed it instead and handed it down to him. "Eggbears really like the smell of the nia fruit. Which is pretty lucky since we need it anyway."

Yuri plucked another one, and handed it over to Estelle. She brought it to her nose and sniffed it. She quickly extended it as far away from her as she could. That didn't help, since Karol threw the first fruit on the ground, crushing it with his sword. The scent that filled the air was overpowering and sickening. It was far worse than rotting vegetables and refuse, and Repede staggered a bit after getting a good whiff of it. He collapsed, but got himself together after a moment, and shook it off. Everyone covered their mouths and noses.

"Jeez, let us know before you do something like that."

"Sorry." He scratched the back of his head. "But with this, we should see an eggbear any time now."

A rustle in the bushes beside them set them on alert, but proved to only be a Filifolia ambling through. Rather than waiting around in one spot, they walked around a bit, the red cloud of stench following behind them. It would be weeks before he would be able to get that smell out of his hair and clothing. But that was really the least of his worries. He was mostly glad that Flynn had not demanded his sword back. He hoped that this worked, because he didn't want to risk the Lord of the Plains returning to attack the town a second time. He had taken out one of the beast's eyes and if he came back for revenge and Yuri wasn't there to finish him off, some unlucky person could be hurt, or worse, killed, as a result. 

They traversed the forest for nearly an hour, before a loud crashing came through the brush and revealed to them a large eggbear tromping across their path. Unlike the Filifolia, it didn't flee from them, but instead faced them snarling. Yuri had his sword out in a flash, and was ready for the fight. He was still brimming with energy from the fight outside Halure. Karol was ready, too.

They both moved in, charging the beast before Flynn and Estelle could even be ready. Their readiness would give the other two a moment to get their acts together. 

As both of them were heavy hitters, they put up a full assault, double-teaming the huge creature. They attacked as a tag team. Whenever one of them needed to back off to use an item or an arte, the other distracted the eggbear and they would switch off as necessary. After just a few seconds, Flynn and Estelle joined them, and with Flynn's extra, capable sword, and Estelle's healing and support artes, the eggbear didn't' stand a chance against them.

It hit the ground with a crash as Yuri's Ghost Wolf arte delivered a final and devastating strike. He raised his hand high over Karol and the boy jumped up and slapped his hand hard enough to leave it stinging.

"That was great!" He balled his fists and pulled them inward quickly as a sort of victory arm pump. "Flynn and Estelle, you were both great out there, too!" He went about grabbing up a few of the eggbear's claws, which came off easily.

"You guys are pretty good." Yuri sounded almost reluctant to admit it, but he really meant it. He raised his hand again toward Estelle, but she just looked at him curiously. "What? You going to leave me hanging?"

She pressed one finger into the center of his palm, and blushed and looked away after he shot her an incredulous stare. "I'm sorry. I don't quite understand."

It really shouldn't have surprised him that a pampered princess wouldn't know about such colloquialisms. 

"It's called a high five. It's like a sign of victory." Karol seemed baffled by this as well.

"Oh. I see."

Flynn ignored this little exchange, instead focusing on the fallen foe. He was so absorbed in observing the eggbear, that he didn't hear Yuri creep up behind him. He waited a moment right behind Flynn to see if he was going to be caught, but the knight made no indication of noticing his presence. Was he really this dense? Oh, this was going to be fun.

"RWAR!" He shouted as loudly as he could right in the blond's ear.

He could see the fear clench his muscles and Flynn turned sharply, hard trained, sword drawn and ready for battle. Yuri blocked a strike that could have proven to be fatal if he hadn't been prepared. This knight was someone who shouldn't be fooled around with, but that made messing with him all that much more fun. It would be no fun at all if there wasn't a reaction, even if potentially violent.

Flynn pushed back, sending him stumbling for a single step before he caught himself.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Just having a little fun. Chill out."

"Do you think all of this is just a game?! This is serious! What if some--"

He stopped listening, and walked away instead. He could still hear the blond yelling even louder at him, but the content was lost. Not that he really cared. "Lets head back. We've still got to find that luluria petal."

Estelle, Karol and Repede followed and as soon as Flynn realized that his argument was falling on deaf ears, he stormed along behind him as well. It was clear that he wasn't going to let this go easily, but would wait until he had a more captive audience. A captive audience would be something out of his reach soon, if Yuri had anything to do with it. Flynn didn't mind making his frustration known, shooting angry glances whenever he got close enough, but Yuri didn't flinch. This knight might have been strong and even good in a fight, but that didn't give Yuri a reason to fear him. He was more than capable of holding his own against some goody-goody Royal Guard.

The trek back to Halure was an easy one. Even with as quickly as they moved, it was after dusk when they arrived. Even at night, the tree seemed to glow, but the rings of the barrier were even dimmer now than they had been in daylight. 

"This is not looking good." His eyes traced a path around the rings that encircled the city. "We really need to get a hold of those petals and get the panacea bottle made."

"What sort of petals would you be looking for?" An elderly man who walked with a slouch approached them.

"We're looking for something called a luluria petal. Would you know where we could find one?" Estelle spoke before any of them could, but that made Yuri smile a little. She didn't seem to have a problem interacting with people of the lower classes at all in spite of her noble standing.

"Why would you be looking for that?"

"We need to make a panacea bottle in order to fix the tree!"

He was understandably skeptical. He looked at them suspiciously for a moment, but must have judged them in good favor after a long moment. "I have one left. If you think it'll fix the tree and the barrier, I'll give it to you."

"Thank you!"

He motioned for them to follow him to the first house in the village. It was only marginally larger than the others, but Yuri could tell that this man was someone important in the village, most probably the mayor. He took them to the main room of his home, which was a rounded, enclosed porch that surrounded a tree. He offered them cushioned seats along the circular walkway, and all of them sat but Yuri.

The old man disappeared for a few moments and returned with a small box that he handed to Estelle. "This is the last of my luluria petals. In order for them to be effective as medicine, they have to be dried in the shade for six months. They're quite valuable, but if it'll fix the tree, then please take it."

She opened the box carefully, looking at the single, dark pink petal sitting within. "Thank you so much. Let's go make that panacea bottle."

Before Flynn could even stand, she was bowing to the mayor, and rushing off with Karol.

"She's a perky one, isn't she?"

Flynn glared at him, and then followed the other two without a word. Yuri trailed along behind. When the two of them reached the general store, Karol and Estelle were already there, surrendering the ingredients and the money required for the synthesis. Luckily, it didn't take more than half an hour for the synthesis process, but Yuri still watched the barrier above with the smallest tinges of anxiety lingering in his limbs. They couldn't afford for this to fail. This could mean the difference between life and death for these villagers, and he had seen first hand once before what could happen if a barrier blastia failed.

Just above the rings, shone the brightest star in the sky, Brave Vesperia, and after a few moments of being entranced by its light, he realized that the blond knight was also staring. He wanted to say something. He wanted a sarcastic and biting remark, but nothing of the sort came to him.

"Didn't take you for the contemplative kind."

"You either."

Perhaps, in spite of all their differences, they could get along without attempting to kill each other. It was still fun to tease the uptight man and this brief moment of seriousness between them wouldn't change that. There were better times than this for fun and games.

"Flynn, Yuri, the panacea bottle's ready. Let's go." 

"I hope this works," He said under his breath, and avoided Flynn's gaze as he headed up the hill toward the tree. Karol was rushing on ahead, but he warned him to be careful. This could be their one chance. The boy blushed, embarrassed, and continued on with more caution. 

In the few hours that they had been gone the condition of the tree had worsened by far. The black spot along the ground had grown and the bark of the tree was blackening also. The branches were visibly brittle, and the flowers crinkling with dryness. They weren't prepared to give up yet. Not that Yuri was ever ready to give up.

Karol and Estelle knelt on the dark spot in the withered grass and opened the bottle. Without ceremony, the boy poured the contents on the roots of the tree and they waited, looking up hopefully.

Nothing happened.

They waited a few moments more, and still nothing.

"Perhaps we should head to Aspio and look for an expert now." Flynn tried to sound sympathetic, but he had acted like he knew it wasn't going to work from the start.

The rings of the barrier dimmed further until they were just faint white lines against the sky. They didn't have time. If the barrier went down, this town was doomed.

Estelle stood, staring up at the ever-darkening tree, her hands folded in prayer. They hadn't noticed before the crowd gathering on the hill behind them, their heads all raised, hoping.

"Was the dose too small? Do we need another one?"

"Why didn't it work? We tried so hard..." She closed her eyes, and stood there in silent reverence. "Please... don't give up...."

Yuri couldn't look anymore, but as a warm, white light filled his vision, he looked back. 

Estelle was glowing, her hair and clothing billowed by a wind that only seemed to affect her and the top of the tree. As the glow around her intensified, the tree started to glow as well, emanating a bright white light. 

"Lady Estellise!"

"E-Estelle?"

The light grew to a blinding brightness, and with a sudden flash, it was gone, and Estelle was fainting before them. Flynn managed to catch her once more before she hit the ground. Karol knelt beside her and Yuri, too, but they were careful to not crowd her.

"Hey, you okay?"

Her green eyes fluttered open and she sat up. "What happened?" Before they could answer, she looked up to the tree, and they did with her. Its blossoms were glowing brightly in the night, as healthy as if they were just starting to bloom. The dark spot at the roots was gone and only green, lush grass remained in its place. Up above its branches, the rings of the barrier of Halure were bright, glittering white as they should have been, and with a small sigh of relief, they knew that the village was safe now.

"Thank you so much, Miss. How can we ever repay what you have done?"

She touched her forehead gingerly and stood. "I don't really know what I did, but as long as the town is safe, that's enough for me."

Yuri didn't know what she had done either, but whatever it was, it was impressive. She had single-handedly restored the barrier. He stood and pulled the stunned Karol up also. He looked around a little. It appeared as though the whole village was there to witness the event. So much for the idea of them laying low until they got to Aspio.

"At least allow me to offer you a meal and a place to rest for the evening."

That sounded like a great idea, but Repede's cold wet nose touched his hand like a signal. He looked to where the dog pointed with his snout to see a familiar figure scanning the village from one of the rooftops. It was Zagi and he was accompanied by two men dressed in dark clothing and wearing goggles with red lenses. Their appearance here was no mistake, and he didn't like the idea of the assassin being involved in nefarious goings-on within the Empire.

Yuri nudged Flynn, who looked at him sharply. He nodded a little, alerting the knight to the threat.

"That would be lov--."

"I'm afraid we really have to keep going."

Estelle and Karol both glanced back confused, but the blond remained firm.

"Thank you for your offer, but we are in a hurry."

 


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: And here people were hoping that Flynn and Yuri were going to start getting along soon.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

 

* * *

 

They put as much distance between themselves and Halure as possible. Once they were out of town, and well on their way to Aspio, they stopped to make camp. He and Yuri explained that they had seen Zagi and a few of his minions.

"Whoa! What have you done to get the Red-Eyes after you?!" Karol was shocked.

"Red-Eyes?" Flynn stoked the fire a bit, his curiosity stoked as well.

"Yeah. They're a group of assassins, and Zagi's one of their strongest."

"An assassin's guild."

"No." Yuri set his kettle down. "They're not an official guild and they're not endorsed by the Union. They're a group of would-be guild thugs. They'll offer their services to whoever pays them the most."

"But why are they after you, Flynn?" Karol asked.

"I don't know."

"Hopefully, we'll be able to get some answers when we get to Aspio,” Yuri added.

"Why are you guys going to Aspio anyway?"

"We need to find an expert on aer,” Estellise said.

"What for?"

"To find out what Alexei is doing to Zaphias, and to my cousin, Ioder." Sometimes Estellise's lack of fear astounded him. This boy could easily turn on her for being with the Empire. "I don't know what he's planning, but if Zaphias and its people are in trouble, I have to act."

Karol eyed her suspiciously and Flynn, too. "So you're both Imperial citizens..."

"They're telling the truth, Karol. I was there."

The boy tilted back in surprise, his brown eyes fixed on Yuri. He was just as surprised as Flynn that the dark haired man was defending them. “W-what--?”

"I was chasing the blastia thief."

"Oh." He flopped down beside Yuri, who had since begun cooking.

Flynn still watched him, but not as suspiciously as before. One good meal hadn't completely changed his mind about the supposed spy, though. There were other things to worry about, like the situation in Zaphias. He still didn't like him and he still didn't trust him but there was something about Yuri that had recently begun to worry him less. He wasn't sure what it was, or why. The two of them were so different that they could apparently disagree on everything. He hadn't tried to escape and had been more helpful than Flynn would have expected from someone who was a criminal. It was likely that he was hoping for some leniency in his sentence. With people other than Flynn, he seemed almost friendly. He didn't treat Estellise with the respect owed to one of her social status, but he still treated her kindly. He said that Karol was just a kid who followed him around, but the small exchanges between them, such as the way he ruffled the boy's hair and smiled, were brotherly.

Those things did not change the fact that Yuri was a criminal and Flynn had to keep a close eye on him. He couldn't risk him escaping. He had to hold fast.

"I've been meaning to ask you. Why were you so interested in helping those people?" 

Yuri glanced at him, questioning, as he handed him a bowl of food.

"They were Imperial citizens. I would think you wouldn't be concerned about their problems."

"Whatever. They were just innocent people. It's not like the Empire takes care of them or anything." He passed food off to Estellise and Karol before sitting down next to the fire with Repede.

Flynn and Estellise just looked at him stunned and offended.

Yuri was unimpressed. "Can you honestly tell me that your Imperial Council or the Commandant would have done anything to help those people?"

"Surely, they would have sent at least--"

"How long does it take to mobilize a brigade of knights? Even in an emergency?"

"A few days at most."

"Do you think that the people of Halure would have had a few days? If we hadn't arrived when we did, the Lord of the Plains would have destroyed the whole village. Face it, the Empire is useless. The only people that the Empire cares about are the rich. Regular people don't stand a chance against that."

Flynn was on his feet in a flash, marching stiffly toward him. Anger burned in his every muscle and his skin was hot in spite of the cool spring breeze. He grabbed Yuri up by the collar with both hands. "What do you know?!"

"What do _I_ know? What do _you_ know?! Have you ever had to live without the safety of a barrier?! Do you know what the real world is like?!" The dark haired man pushed back, nearly knocking him back into the grass. He rolled up easily off the ground, and Yuri charged to tackle Flynn. 

As Yuri threw all of his weight at Flynn, his head hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him and sending his brain spinning. They rolled across the grass, throwing punches and shouting incoherently. Just when Flynn thought he got the upper hand, Yuri would move with such agility that it surprised him, and he would end up pinned to the ground. He could hear Estellise shouting at them to stop as he twisted his hips to take control once more. Yuri punched him in the face a few times before struggling to his feet, panting, and wiping the blood from his busted lower lip. Flynn grabbed his leg, kicking the other out from underneath him. Yuri fell, exchanging fists with him once more.

This continued for a moment until Repede jumped into the fray, barking and snarling and tearing them apart. Karol pulled Yuri back from further attack while Estellise braced Flynn.

"Stop fighting. Both of you."

Yuri spit blood some distance and wiped his mouth again. He huffed, rolling up off the ground again, and, surprisingly, a smirk spread across his face. "You're not too bad for a dog of the Empire."

Anger started to rise in him over the sheer audaciousness of this insufferable person, but as he heard that comment, Flynn felt the breath pulled out of him. It wasn't the insult that caused him to freeze. He had heard that string of words before, the sarcastic tone attached, stretching out as his patience was stretching. Try as he might, his mind scanning every memory for when and where he could have heard it, he couldn't remember. Who could have said this before? Could he had met this person before?

"Are you alright, Flynn?" Estellise pushed a bit of his blond hair out of his face, her fingers running over his swelling eye.

"I-I'm fine, Lady Estellise." He shifted his glance over to where Yuri and Karol were chatting.

She healed him and then moved over to do the same for Yuri. He thanked her, and she made some mention of wishing the two of them would get along at least for a while.

Things settled down after a few moments and they went back to eating. Flynn didn't even taste the food anymore, but his stomach received it with little problem. It was probably delicious, but he didn't want to think that this person could be capable of anything good.

"Get some sleep."

Flynn only realized how late it was when Yuri nudged him with his foot, and he looked up to see the moon hanging high in the night sky between the thick tree tops. Estellise and Karol were already asleep beside the fire, and Repede lay beside it, watching the tree line with little concern.

"Repede'll keep watch."

"I will also." He didn't really feel up to it, but after their skirmish, he didn't want to take his eyes off the guildsman.

The dog growled at him.

"He says to leave things to him. He'll keep us safe."

Flynn opened his mouth, but lost his argument. 

He watched instead as Yuri grabbed his blanket and nestled down between the roots of the tree across the small glade, his back against the trunk. "So, the little princess is pretty amazing." His tone of voice was curious and thoughtful, and Flynn didn't like it. What had happened at Halure was something they shouldn't have witnessed.

"If you tell anyone about what you saw back there, I will--"

"Chill out." He waved a hand at him. "I won't tell anyone."

"As long as you understand."

Yuri sighed and closed his eyes.

Flynn assumed that this was the end of the discussion, and wrapped himself up in his simple sleeping bag. But there was a question on his mind that he had been meaning to ask for a while now.

“Where did you get your blastia?”

“Hm? My blastia?” Yuri looked down at his wrist. “Why? What's it matter to you?”

“Blastia is a precious commodity, and a bodhi blastia like that is usually reserved for Imperial Knights. How did you come across something like that?” He tried not to imply that Yuri's means of coming upon a blastia like that may have been illicit, but the suspicion was there, and Yuri saw that.

“Oh, so you think I stole it.” He laughed, and seemed to shrug it off. “An old friend of mine gave it to me. Perfectly legal, nothing to worry your little head over.”

Flynn wasn't satisfied with that. It wasn't easy for just anyone to get a bodhi blastia like that, and the bangle that Yuri wore had been heavily modified from what looked like a basic knight's blastia. But he had no proof and accusations weren't going to get him anywhere.

He rolled away from Yuri. He didn't like turning his back on him, but looking at him filled him with anger. He curled into himself tightly, hunching his shoulders and squeezing his eyes shut. It didn't help. For over a week, a decent night's rest had always eluded him and he was left thinking, the thoughts in his head a jumbled, nearly incoherent mess.

For one more night, sleep would slip away from him again.

 

* * *

 

He hung toward the back of the group as they walked on to Aspio, even as Flynn kept eying him suspiciously. Yuri would occasionally spend a few moments watching back toward Halure from the top of the hills that were quickly becoming mountains as they neared the City of Scholars. He would take great pains to cover their tracks when they made them and kept alert of whatever or whoever might be following them. He didn't care much for the blond knight, but he didn't want Zagi following them for a variety of reasons. He had no desire to be the next on the Red-Eyes hit list.

Yuri had known Zagi for a few years now. In Dahngrest, they lived on opposite sides, but their paths had crossed before, although their blades had not. Frankly, that surprised him. Zagi had made it known in no uncertain terms how eager he was to resort to violence if he felt the need arise, which was disturbingly often. He was even known to take his frustrations and temper out on his own comrades. Who a person was meant little to a man whose hands longed for nothing more than blood. Yuri had to respect him though. Among the Red-Eyes, Zagi was the strongest, and knew the lonely pang that left all too well.

He didn't like the looks of this, though. Why was Zagi after the mostly clueless Flynn Scifo? Was he working with Commandant Alexei like Yuri initially believed? He didn't believe in coincidences, especially not in the case of major heads of state. Alexei mentioned that Zagi had failed him. Why were the Red-Eyes working for the Empire? What were they planning?

"Are they still following us?" Flynn stopped beside him as he paused on a hilltop only a mile or so from the entrance to Aspio.

"No. It looks like they didn't even notice us in Halure."

"What's a group like the Red-Eyes working with Alexei for?"

"The better question is 'why is he after you?'" Yuri glanced over, but the knight's gaze remained fixed on the horizon.

"I don't know." It obviously troubled him as well, but Yuri could see in his sky blue eyes that it wasn't his main concern. His gaze moved away from the still visible tree of Halure and toward the Quoi Woods. If he could have seen that far, he would have been staring at Zaphias. Yuri had to commend his single minded determination to find out what was going on. Even if he was from the Empire, his pigheadedness was admirable. "We're almost there. We should keep moving."

Yuri nodded, decently satisfied that their trail was covered and Zagi was not hot on their heels. They hiked to the bottom of the hill where Estelle, Karol, and Repede were waiting, and they entered the massive cave that housed the city.

There was a small problem. Or a large one, rather. Before them was a huge gate, and brown and olive uniformed guards in the way. If it wasn't one problem, it was another. He swore and before the guards could spot them and ask for identification, he motioned for the others to duck into a small alcove to the left of the path with him.

"What's wrong?"

"Those guards. They might not recognize us, but they'll definitely ask to see our papers."

"Papers?" Estelle asked innocently.

"By law, you need written permission to travel within the Empire. Karol and I have some forged documents, but I doubt that the two of you are carrying anything like that."

Flynn nodded. "How do we get in then?"

"Hey, guys. I think I found a way." Karol called to them with a whisper from further down the alcove path. There was a door, set into the cave wall and from the wear and tear on it, Yuri could tell that it was probably an entrance used by the researchers that gave this city its namesake. "It's locked, though."

"Karol, show them that thing I taught you."

"Oh! Okay, Yuri." The boy dug around in his sizable bag for a few seconds before producing a ring of lock picks.

Flynn opened his mouth, anger playing across his face and rampant in his eyes, but the boy got the lock open before he could act his protest out.

"W-we shouldn't be breaking in! That's illegal!" Estelle found her words of protest easily enough.

"Do you want to find a researcher or not?"

The princess stiffened and calmed. "You're right. We do need to find a scholar. In the future, let's try to find another way first, though."

Karol and Repede snuck in first and left them outside for a moment.

"What are you teaching that boy?" Flynn passed a hand down his face in frustration.

"How to survive in the real world." It was the truth. "Regular folks like us have it tough."

Flynn bit this tongue to keep from starting another fistfight. Yuri found it interesting how calm the blond was around everyone else except himself.

"We're clear!" Karol poked his head out of the door frame and waved them in.

The room they entered was full of books, more than any one person could ever read in their whole lifetime, stacked ceiling to floor. Estelle looked around bright eyed, gingerly running her fingers along the spines as she browsed the assembled titles. Yuri approached the first person he spotted, a squat man with a greasy face and balding top, who was dressed in an embroidered black robe. Flynn followed him closely, and managed to speak to the man first.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for an expert on aer. Who would you recommend?"

"We're also looking for a guy named Mordio."

The man sneered at them in disinterest. "The person you're both looking for lives in a shack off the main plaza." He left without another word, dragging a large bundle of books behind him.

"Mordio?"

"Yeah. That's the name of the blastia thief I'm hunting."

"No. I know Mordio. She's no thief."

He cocked an eyebrow at Flynn. "Prove it."

The knight must have been in Aspio before, because as they left the book stacks, he took the lead and showed them the way across the city.

The shack was just where the scholar said it would be. It was a small, two story, ramshackle place that was built down a hill and haphazardly constructed against the wall of another building on the cliff beside it. It was in a state of disrepair, looking as though, if they got near it, it would simply crumble. Unafraid though, Flynn moved straight to the front door and knocked.

There was no answer, so he knocked a second time. Even after a few moments, nothing happened.

Yuri cracked his knuckles. "Guess it's my turn."

"What do you want?"

They turned collectively to the top of the hill where a girl stood, dressed in red and black, goggles flat against her choppy, auburn hair and her teal eyes stern. She strode toward them confidently. Across her back was a travel pack and below it, in a harness at the small of her back was a huge, leather bound book. The smudges of dirt and grass stains across her face and knees gave away her occupation as a field researcher. She stopped in front of them, rocking back on one heel and crossing her arms over her chest, judging them carefully.

"Ms. Mordio."

"Do I know you?" She definitely wasn't the thief he had seen in Zaphias. This girl wasn't even sixteen yet.

"My name is Flynn Scifo and I have come from the Imperial capital of--"  
She cut him off. "You can tell the Commandant that I'm not interested! I've already gone over this!"

"Wait. I--"

She stormed past him and up to the door. "If you don't leave now, I'll blow all of you to kingdom come!"

"I'm sorry." Estelle squeezed past Flynn. "There seems to be a misunderstanding. We're not here on behalf of Commandant Alexei. We were told that you are a leader in the field of aer and blastia research." Her regal demeanor seemed to calm the young woman. "We would like to ask you a few questions if that's all right."

"F-Fine." The girl blushed.

The princess extended her hand in greeting just as she had done to Yuri. "My name is Estelle. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Rita Mordio. Likewise."

She allowed them into her house, which wasn't much better constructed on the inside and was filled with all manner of scientific materials; books, scrolls, glasses filled with strange liquids, maps, charts and strange looking machines. One would hardly be able to tell this was the home of a fifteen year old girl. They sat on the wooden floor as she only had one chair in the room and it was missing a leg and covered in books.

Flynn and Estelle recounted the events in the palace of Zaphias. Yuri and Karol listened carefully, but as soon as Rita's eyes lit up, she drowned out all else. He still wanted to ask her about the blastia thief, but that would have to wait.

"I've never heard of someone doing anything like that. With how blastia function, it should be impossible unless the castle is positioned on an aer krene. The way you describe it, it's not functioning at all like a regular blastia and this Ioder kid, how does he fit in? I wonder... could this have anything to do with the Rizomata Formula...?" She stood and scrambled through the books and papers scrawled across her desk. She spent a few good minutes doing this, mumbling to herself. "People being used like blastia... aer density... Zaphias... how does it all connect?!"

"You think that Ioder was being used as a blastia?"

She spun on her heel to look at them. "It's a bit of a stretch, but like blastia and things that occur naturally, humans also conduct aer to a degree. For a normal person, the amount of aer required to do anything like what you've described would be easily fatal."

Estelle's fingers curled tightly into the fabric of her pink skirt and her gaze fixed on the floor to keep her eyes from watering. "I-I know that he was alive when we saw him."

"Then there's something different about him." Rita turned back to her desk, flipping through a few books. "I would really have to see it and examine what's going on to tell you anything definite."

"Easier said than done." Yuri spoke up finally. "He sealed the palace off with some force field to prevent us from getting back in. And we had to flee Zaphias after that."

She seemed intrigued by the force field, but tilted her head to look at him after he mentioned their escaped. "Why?"

"The Knights are after us."

Rita eyed him suspiciously once more.

"I assure you, Ms. Mordio, the charges are highly exaggerated. We fled because of what we saw with the Commandant and we have traveled here to seek your council."

"Whatever. So the main issue is that we need to see what's going on in the capital, but we can't because of your fugitive status and inability to break the seal on the palace."

"More or less."

"So, what's your plan?"

"We're headed to Dahngrest to talk to Don Whitehorse and see if we can get a ceasefire and some help to find out what's going on." Yuri hid a snort as Flynn explained his idea. Apprehension and second thoughts about his plan seemed to have finally set in, and Yuri actually found himself feeling a little bad for Flynn.

Karol opened his mouth to say something, no doubt regarding the Don and his willingness or lack thereof to help in this situation, but Yuri shook his head and the boy remained quiet.

"That's a stupid plan. But it seems like our best option. Let me get a few things packed and we can head for Capua Nor." She pulled off her pack and emptied its contents on to her desk before repacking half of the original contents and several other things off the top of her desk.

Karol stood and took to looking at the numerous gadgets and knickknacks that were littered about the room. he reached up to touch a boxy machine.

"Don't touch anything, squirt!"

He stopped and moved back to sit with Yuri, his face red with embarrassment.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Estelle glided to the desk and peeked over Rita's shoulder.

A faint pink tinted the girl's cheeks. "N-no. It's fine. I'm almost done."

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask. Do you know of a blastia thief that would be using the name Mordio?"

She whipped around once more. "Are you saying that you think I'm a thief?!"

Yuri held his hands up to defend himself.

"Yuri didn't mean it like that. He's just looking for a blastia thief that was going by your name. He knows that it couldn't have been you."

"Yeah. This was a man, about middle aged--"

A knock at the door interrupted further conversation and they froze.

"Rita Mordio, by order of the Imperial Knights, open this door."

There was no time to panic. She motioned for them to hide, and she opened the door. The female knight who stood there wore a blue and green infantry uniform. She was of a medium height and average build, with chin length orange hair and startling, cat-like purple eyes. She saluted to Rita, but her eyes were venturing elsewhere. From his hiding spot, Yuri could see that her eyes locked with Flynn's and he swore internally. His lightly tanned skin turned deathly pale. She recognized him. She knew him. This was bad.

After a few seconds, she broke the gaze and cleared her throat.

"What do you want?"

"The barrier blastia at Ehmead Hill has broken and we were sent to fetch you to fix it."

"Get someone else. I'm on a job."

"As a state funded researcher, you cannot disregard a direct order from the Commandant."

Rita stomped one foot impatiently. "Fine! I'll stop by and try to figure out what the problem is. In the mean time, get out!"

"The Empire and the Commandant thank you for your continued service." Before the knight could say anything else, Rita slammed the door in her face, sending a harsh tremor through the building. They waited in their hiding spots until they could hear the march of boots drift away from them.

"Okay. New plan." She was furious, her already harsh tone now clipped with anger. "We'll go to Ehmead Hill. we have to go through there to get to Nor anyway. I'll fix the blastia and catch up with you."

"I suppose that'll have to do." Yuri looked over to Flynn, who had crawled out from underneath the spiral staircase. "Who was that?"

"Sodia. She served with me before I became a Royal Guard."

"Any reason why she didn't rat us out? It's plain that she saw you. I'm sure that the whole of the Imperial Knights is looking for us by now."

"I have no idea."

Yuri let it rest at that as Rita bustled by him, throwing more items into her pack. This was going to be a longer journey than he initially thought. A stop at Ehmead Hill would slow them down and then having to wait on Rita at Nor Harbor for who knew how long it could take to fix a barrier blastia. There was still no sign of the elusive blastia thief in sight.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: In case you're wondering, yes. I completely cut out the Shaikos Ruins. They were important to game development, but they will not be appearing here as I can get around them. Thankfully.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

He noted Yuri being even more cautious as they passed through the hills surrounding Halure. They had seen no trace of Zagi, but they didn't want to risk being seen by the Red-Eyes. It made him wonder. Was Yuri concerned for the sake of his own hide if the assassin showed up, or possibly for theirs? From what he could discern from Yuri's fighting style, Zagi may have been a challenge, but not undefeatable for the man, even alone. Something about all of this bothered him, and bothered Yuri, even if his outward confidence wouldn't show it.

They cleared the limits of Halure after a day and neared Ehmead Hill by a second. Estellise and Rita were becoming fast friends, although an awkwardness hung between them that he couldn't describe. Between the group as a whole, it was becoming more comfortable, and he found himself less worried about Yuri escaping or slitting their throats in their sleep. That was strange, because he still didn't trust Yuri.

It was nearly noon on the third day before they reached the pass to Capua Nor, and they were not surprised to find the place full of knights and researchers. They split up at the entrance before they could be spotted.

"Catch up with us in Nor Harbor as soon as possible," Yuri said.

"I'll see you there." Rita adjusted her pack and tromped up the hill toward the collected guards.

"This way." Yuri moved a branch aside and slipped down an old monster trail between the bushes. This trail ran somewhat beside the main thoroughfare, but ventured off into the forest and up the hill separately after many yards. It was mostly overgrown, with trampled leaves and branches lying around, though it had been in some recent use. With all the back alleys he knew, Flynn assumed it had been Yuri. He had to have gotten from Dahngrest to Zaphias without alerting the guards somehow. Flynn never imagined that this knowledge would be useful to himself, but it was most helpful.

With the barrier broken, the trail was fraught with monsters and they were forced to fight their way through. Each time he watched Yuri fight, he appreciated it a little more. Although they still argued and only two nights ago their anger had turned to blows, they seemed to be getting along better because of it. It was hard to not still be suspicious, though. Yuri was still the enemy and still a prisoner and for someone who did not yet know what his fate would be, he was being awfully helpful. At the very least though, he could respect him from a fighting stance.

About a half an hour into their trek, they reached the point where they could see Rita on the pass below them, examining the fallen, smashed, barrier blastia. She moved here and there, touching it, moving her fingers across the green-blue glyph she raised from it, examining its patterns with the utmost care and years of knowledge. For someone who was barely a woman, she was highly knowledgeable in her field. It was no wonder that Commandant Alexei had once wanted her working directly for him. And with the situation as it was now, it was a good thing that she had kicked Flynn out of her home when they had first met when he delivered said request.

They peeked over the bushes that dotted the edge of the cliff and watched below.

"This is a formula I've never even seen before. It's just a mishmash of other formulas. This shouldn't even be functioning." Her eyes scanned the information given to her. "What idiot is using this formula for a blastia? Blastia don't work like this!" She stood and stormed over to the nearest knight. "Hey you! Who set this barrier up?!"

"This is Sir Garista's site."

Flynn recognized the name Garista and from the way Yuri's eyes widened and then narrowed, and his hand found the hilt of his sword, he did as well. Garista Luodor was a widely renowned and regarded military strategist and blastia researcher that was in charge of numerous Imperial projects.

"Where is he?"

"Sir Garista is currently in the capital on business."

Rita turned sharply and moved back over to the blastia. She produced the glyph once more and from the best of Flynn's ability to see, it looked as though she was changing it, mumbling to herself as she did so.

"H-Hey! You can't do that!"

She ignored the knight, even as he got closer. She was on a mission.

He grabbed her from behind and she immediately began to struggle, kicking and screaming, which only alerted more knights.

"Let me go, you idiot!"

Before Flynn could react, Yuri was sliding down the hill, sword drawn, ready to leap into the fray. He couldn't tell if it was well meaning concern for the girl's safety or the insatiable itch for battle that drove him. Maybe it was a bit of both.

Karol followed and Repede. too. Before they got completely left behind, Flynn and Estellise brought up the rear.

Yuri had already taken out the guard holding Rita and was charging the others, while the mage let loose with a blast of her fiery rage incarnate. But even with everyone's help, they were vastly outnumbered as a brigade of knights ran their way. Flynn hesitated in drawing his blade against his fellow knights. They weren't monsters. They were people with lives and families and they were all just doing their jobs. A pang of guilt stung at his chest.

"Karol! Repede!" Yuri signaled up with his hand. The dog rushed to his side, his knife at the ready.

The boy knew what this meant and gathered everyone else. "Let's go!"

"What's going on?"

"Yuri's going to distract them so we can get away. We need to get out of here now!"

One man, no matter how strong, against a brigade of knights was madness, and yet he stood before them, sword drawn and ready to fight, smirking like a confident fool.

"We can't just leave him behind!" Estellise took a step forward, but Rita held her back.

"Don't worry! Yuri can handle this. He's the greatest! He and Repede will catch up with us soon!"

_I don't have time to wait for someone who hesitates so much._

Those words spurred him into action. He couldn't hesitate anymore. "Let's go."

Estellise watched worriedly for a moment while the knights began to attack, but followed the others as they moved down the pass and quickly onto another path. They got to a point where they could no longer see the pass below or hear the battle and they waited.

"I hope Yuri's all right...."

"I'm sure he's fine. He and Repede have taken on hives of monsters on their own before with no problem. Those knights don't stand a chance."

A little while later, a pair of dark forms came up the hill. It was Yuri and Repede, a little scuffed and scratched up, but no worse for wear than they had been. Estellise rushed to them, checking for serious wounds of which there were none, and then casting her healing artes anyway. He gave her a crooked smile as she started off on how it had been mad for him to do something like that, but she was glad that they were okay.

"Are we ready to keep going? If we don't hurry, we won't reach Capua Nor until tomorrow. I'd like to sleep in a real bed tonight," Rita said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Yuri took his pack from Karol and they continued their hike up the hilly cliff.

A cool breeze wafted around them, sending the scent of salt into Flynn's nose. As they rounded a bend in the path and moved clear of the trees, he could see why. Stretching out endlessly to the northeast was the Outer Ocean. The breeze became stronger as they stopped on a grassy cliff, overlooking the bright, blue water. White waves crashed along the face of the cliff, sending salt spray up far enough to hit Flynn's face.

The feeling that washed over him was like nothing he had ever felt before. It was calming and endlessly tranquil, but also frightening. The world was so large and he was a mere speck of dust in comparison, and yet the ocean itself was only made of drops of crystalline water, even if those drops numbered into infinity. It was strange and confusing and before he could dwell on it too much further Estellise's excited voice broke him out of it, along with Karol teasing Rita and getting hit for his trouble. Yuri, though, was calm and quiet with a confident smirk on his face as his charcoal eyes gazed out to where the ocean met the sky. Whatever he was feeling, it was far less intimidating than what Flynn was experiencing in viewing the ocean for the first time. How many times had Yuri's free lifestyle allowed him this simple, powerful pleasure?

Flynn couldn't help feeling a little tinge of jealousy. This was a person who had truly seen the world.

"Come on, guys. I know it's pretty and all, but I'm ready for a shower. Let's keep going."

After a few collective groans and backwards glances, they continued around the cliff and up a little higher before the trail started to descend. The highest cliff gave an even better view of the ocean, but as they neared the top, they noticed a person standing there next to a large pile of rocks.

As they approached, he turned toward them. He was tall and lean of form, with long white hair and startling, deep red eyes. He wore clothing of an almost military cut, in deep red and black. He seemed wholly unimpressed with them and the amazing sight before him.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was so deep that it sent a shiver up Flynn's spine. He knew this person. He owed a lot to this person.

"Just passing through. Don't let us bother you," Yuri replied, but the man turned to head down the path they were coming from. "Or, you know, whatever."

Flynn stepped in his path. "Duke Pantarei?"

"Who are you?" He studied him a second and answered for him. "The Scifo boy."

"Yes, Sir."

"What do you want?"

"To thank you, Sir. My father and I owe you so much. Thanks to your compliment of him, he was made a captain. I just wish to express our gratitude."

Duke stared at him a moment before he spoke again. "I see. So this is the unintended consequence of my actions." He moved past Flynn with little effort and disappeared down the trail.

"Who was that guy?"

"Some weirdo." Rita huffed.

"Duke Pantarei. He was a hero of the Great War ten years ago. It was because of him that my father became a captain in the Imperial Knights." He tried not to think about it further than that, but failed. His tears had gone a week ago, and all that remained was a bottomless sadness.

Estellise touched his forearm gently, comfortingly, and he was reminded that he had no time to mourn. He was on a mission. His pace quickened a step in order to keep his mind from falling apart and it was only another hour so before they left Ehmead Hill and the sight of the ocean behind them.

* * *

 

Capua Nor was darker and quieter than Yuri remembered and it was unnerving. The dark, thunderous storm hanging over the city didn't help much. As they entered the quiet, rainy streets, he spotted a woman lying face down in a puddle. When he reached her side a second later, he could tell that she was breathing, which was a relief, but the congestion in her chest made it seem as though she were deathly ill.

"Is she all right?" Estelle knelt beside him, taking the woman's wrist in her hand and checking for a pulse.

"Alive? Yes. All right? I'm not sure." He pulled the blanket out of his pack and wrapped the woman up in it as he picked her up. "Let's get her somewhere warm and dry." He wanted to complain about finding trouble in nearly every imperial city that he visited, but that had ceased to surprise him long ago.

Luckily, they were only a block or so from the Pollux Inn, so he had Karol rent them a few rooms, and he put the woman to bed in one of them. Her work worn hands and face made her look much older than she really was. As soon as Estelle used her healing artes, her breathing eased and she appeared to rest soundly. Just as he prepared to leave her in Estelle's tender care, the woman woke.

"Teagle...?" The wedding ring that glinted on her finger as she reached out for him got his attention.

"Sorry, Lady. I'm not your husband."

Estelle helped her sit up slowly, draping a blanket over her trembling shoulders. "You people... you're not from around here."

"Yeah. We're from out of town."

"You should leave while you still can."

"A 'thank you' would be nice." Before she could apologize, he continued. "What were you doing out in the storm?"

"Looking for my husband, Teagle, and my son, Pauly. They went missing two days ago. You see... many of the townspeople have gone missing since the Magistrate took over."

"Oh really?"

"He's raised taxes to an unbearable rate and no one can afford to pay them and feed their families. Since this storm rolled in a week ago, we've been unable to launch our ships and earn the money we need to pay him. It's been raining nonstop for days and it's not even the rainy season." She shakily pushed a wisp of her brown hair out of her face.

He wasn't surprised to hear about a possibly crooked magistrate. He encountered quite a lot of unsavory people in his travels from both the Empire and the Union. He knew how to handle people like that.

"If you intend to sail from here, go back. Any boats seen in the harbor that are not moored get shot out of the water. Leave this town while you still can."

"Get some rest. The room's paid for." He moved to the door, and Estelle followed hard on his heels. They exited and she stopped him.

"Yuri, we have to help these people. We can't just leave things the way they are."

"Let's rest for now, okay? Then we'll decide what to do." It made him glad to see such a pampered princess so eager to aid those less fortunate. Maybe there was hope for Terca Lumireis yet.

That reply didn't seem to satisfy her, but he left before she could argue. He wanted to find out more before he could make a judgment. Flynn, Karol, and Rita waited in the next room, and he recounted the woman's story for them briefly.

"What are we going to do then?"

He repeated his answer to Estelle and then tacked on "I'm going to take a shower." He didn't miss the glare that Flynn shot him. It was a warning about attempting escape, but he feigned ignorance.

Yuri went directly to the small shower room adjoining the room he would share with Karol and Flynn, and locked the door behind him. He unlocked the small window and pushed it open. Luckily, the sound of the rain outside would mask the fact that he was not showering, at least for now. Upon peeking out, he spotted Repede under the inn awing. He perked up his ears and his tail softly hit the pavement as he wagged. The coast was otherwise clear, so he crawled out the window.

Repede stood, yawning and stretching before trotting along to join him as he took a stroll through town. This was an important stroll. Many houses and businesses were boarded up and abandoned. Others seemed to be barely scraping by. The degradation from when he was here before to now was obvious. Something was very wrong in this town.

They wandered past the towering, stately mansion that no doubt belonged to this reportedly crooked Magistrate. Just past that, they ducked under the 'No Trespassing' signs that barricaded off the pier. Ships bobbed in the choppy waves, knocking again their moorings and the wooden docks.

"Now how am I supposed to get to Dahngrest like this...?" At the end of the pier was the scruffy old man from the prison in Zaphias. Or, as Yuri knew him, Raven.

"Hey, Old Man."

Repede wuffed, wagging his tail once more.

Raven turned, his face slightly red. He had been drinking and he gave Yuri a crooked smile. "Hey there, Sunshine. Whatter ya doin' in Nor Harbor?"

"Same as you. Trying to get to Dahngrest. Glad to see you got out of Zaphias safely."

"You, too."

"So, do you have any intel on what's going on here? It's a lot worse looking here than last time I passed through." Yuri knew Raven had contacts all over the world, working for both the Union and the Empire, and at any given time, Raven was the person who had the best idea of what was going on anywhere.

"Way I hear it, the Magistrate, Ragou, is as crooked as they come. Raised taxes three times this month and those who can't pay get hired on as 'monster hunters'. Lot of 'em never come back. He seems to be doing a pretty good job of abusing his power as a member of the Imperial Council." He paused, glancing skyward. "Oh, somma the locals told me that a few days ago, the Knights took a weird machine in there. Somethin' suspicious. Said it looked like a blastia device or somethin'."

"So the short story is that he's definitely up to no good." He shook his head. "Jeez, why do people have to make my job harder?"

"You know he appreciates everything you do."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I guess I'll be doing my own investigation."

"Oh, any word about that blastia thief?"

"I learned one thing. His name's not Mordio. Tell Gramps that I've got a lot to tell him when I get home." Yuri and Repede turned and took a few steps back toward the ineffective barricade.

"Will do, kid."

He didn't look back at Raven as he strode back into the city. He passed the manor once more and took a moment to get a good look at the surroundings. Four guards, all Imperial Knights, wearing the pink and purple of the Cumore Brigade. If they saw the party, they could recognize them. That would spell trouble.

The urge to act now sat heavy in him. At the same time, though, the imperial princess had expressed an interest in what was happening in this town. Could this problem be solved by her actions instead of his own? He wanted to rush headlong and do what he did best, his preferred method of dealing with people like this Ragou, but there was one thing stopping him. If it were him and him alone here, there would be no problem. That stupid blond knight wasn't rubbing off on him. He wasn't hesitating because he believed that there might be another way. His method had never failed him before and he had never doubted taking the law into his own hands. He wasn't doubting it now. Maybe he just wanted to see what road the princess and her knight would take before going further down his own. He had decided long ago what his path was and he had never faltered or doubted. It was what had to be done.

But as he walked back to the inn, Repede in tow, he thought that maybe there was another way.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: I hate spoiling things in the A/N, so I don't usually have a lot to say here, even though I managed to slip some legitimately disturbing stuff from the game in here. See if you can spot it (hint: it's an item). Also, if you saw my initial tumblr post regarding the posting of this fic and read the tags, just so you know IT BEGINS.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

"What are you doing, Karol?" Estellise peeked over the table to where the boy sat with a knife, peeling chunks of wood away from a block that was quickly developing into a form.

"Just a little wood carving. It's something Yuri taught me."

She smiled. Flynn had never seen her look so genuinely happy. "You and Yuri sure are close."

"Yuri's like my big brother. He can come off as cold and uncaring, but he's really cool and people in Dahngrest really like him."

"Really?"

"Yeah! He's the strongest person I know and he's always up for helping others. He knows so much really great stuff."

The boy's hero worship seemed incredibly misguided to him. Okay. Yuri was strong and good in a fight, he would give him that. And he had been helpful, but not without coercion. The way the Karol spoke of Yuri and the way that Yuri described Karol didn't match. There was the sense of a stronger relationship between them, of well founded trust and long standing friendship. It was nothing like what Yuri told him in Halure, that Karol was just some kid from Dahngrest who followed him around. There was much more here.

"How did he get so strong?" Estellise curiously continued their back and forth.

"I guess he's always been that way. When he was a kid, he lived in Zaphias in the Lower Quarter, but the Empire didn't care about him or anyone else down there. So instead of staying, he fought his way to Dahngrest all by himself and now he works for the strongest guild in the Union!"

Flynn took a moment to process that. The tale seemed farfetched at best, probably bits of truth stretched to impress a child. Even if he had once lived in Zaphias and had been an imperial citizen, he had defected to Dahngrest and sworn his allegiance to the Union. He was the enemy now. The idea that he held such a lofty place in the eyes of a child bothered Flynn to no end. This was a man who was a criminal and didn't deny it, and yet, in this child's vision, he was somehow a hero, someone to be admired, someone to aspire to be. He wasn't any of those things.

"What do you think, Rita?"

The mage didn't even look up from her book. "He's strong and all, but strength isn't everything."

As their conversation continued, Flynn could hear the bathroom door open in the adjoining room and then close. Slick, bare feet padded across the wooden floor and he slipped out unnoticed to follow them.

He opened the door to Yuri in his shirt and pants only, using a fluffy, white towel to dry his long hair. The man looked back at him for a moment from over his shoulder before throwing the towel into a nearby chair. Flynn took a step in, stopping briefly in a small puddle on the floor where the man's hair had dripped.

"That was an awfully long shower."

"If you hadn't noticed, I have a lot of hair to wash." He flopped down in the same chair, leaning back and crossing his legs.

"I might be satisfied with that answer if your clothes didn't have patches of rain still on them."

"I took a little detour around town." The smirk he wore was a challenge. It was like he was telling Flynn that he could have easily escaped and, for whatever reason, had not. "I heard some really interesting rumors about the magistrate."

Flynn felt that it was strange that the guildsman was so forthcoming about sneaking off. He had probably gone to meet with one of his operatives. The plans they might have conspired to hatch regarding his escape, or worse, the possible attack on the capital while it was at its weakest, could prove dire. As the heat of anger rose in him, he grabbed Yuri by the collar, hoisting him out of the chair. This method of threat hadn't proven terribly efficient before, but had managed to get them into a fist fight. "If you try to escape--"

"I told you before. I won't escape. I was just scoping the place out." He grabbed Flynn's wrist and squeezed with enough pressure to cause Flynn to drop him roughly back in the chair. "See, your problem is that you see the whole world as if it's black and white. You put labels on everything."

"What are you talking about?

"Estelle for example. Her label is 'Princess'. And because of that label, you think she needs constant care and protection."

"She is naive and--"

"Maybe you haven't realized it, but she doesn't need your protection. It surprised me at first, too, but she's pretty tough. And all things considered, she's been handling the situation pretty well."

"She is still the princess and I--"

"Am a dutiful knight. Got it. But maybe you should take a harder look at people before you judge them based on their labels." Yuri's charcoal eyes stared up at him, fiery and intense and Flynn was incredibly put off by the strange sensation tingling at the end of his spine as he was trapped in that gaze. He spoke and Flynn only barely caught the words in his distraction. "Guildsman. Criminal. Enemy."

"What?"

"The labels you use for me. Am I right?" He acted as if the air between them hadn't grown intensely heavy and the room didn't suddenly feel too small for the two of them. Why was the presence of this person suddenly so disorienting? Yuri's eyes shifted down and he closed them as he yawned. "So. Do you want to know what I found out or not?"

"Yes."

He rolled easily out of the chair and passed Flynn. "Suppose we should let everyone else in on it, too."

Nearly stumbling, his mind trying to force his body to perform the actions that it didn't seem to want to, Flynn followed back to the small common room where the others were still chatting. They sat at the table and Yuri recounted the information that he had received from the locals. Missing people, strange, unseasonal weather, the mysterious object moved by knights into the magistrate's mansion, and the tax hikes. These did not seemed to be the end of the problems. Estellise's mind was set on their next course of action.

"We should go talk to him and figure out what's going on here.”

"Agreed. It's not like we can get to Tolbyccia without taking a boat from here. It would be days of back tracking and that's not really time we've got that we can waste." Even while they were trying to lay low and get to Dahngrest quickly, Flynn was still interested in finding out exactly what was going on in this town.

"There's a good chance that he's not going to want to talk to us. Then what?" Yuri asked.

Estellise pondered quietly a moment.

"We could blast our way in," Rita added, her interest piqued over the idea of getting to examine a blastia.

"Too risky. The place is crawling with knights."

"We'll try to talk to him before we make any rash actions. If he refuses to speak with us, then we'll figure out something else." She looked to Flynn and Yuri. "Is that acceptable?"

"If that's what you want to do."

"It is."

Flynn begrudgingly agreed also. He didn't like how much Yuri was influencing her, but rather than argue, he remained silent for now. She had made a decision and her power was greater than his. He would follow the orders he received. She had good intentions, but he was afraid that they were going to become twisted by Yuri.

Either way, there was definitely something strange going on in this town.

* * *

 

He wondered what exactly Estelle's plan was. Was she hoping that her influence as an imperial princess would grant her access to the magistrate and that he might listen to her? If Yuri knew anything, it was that, once backed into a corner, someone as supposedly crooked as this magistrate, was capable of anything. He would follow along with her plan though, even if the conditions and repercussions might not be ideal.

This wasn't going to be an easy process.

"The magistrate is not seeing guests today."

"But we need to speak with him." Yuri knew that Estelle's attempt to reason with the guards wasn't going to go anywhere. They were lucky they hadn't been recognized and arrested immediately.

"If you don't leave the premises immediately, we will take you into custody."

"But--"

Yuri cut her off, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned quickly to look at him and he made a small backwards motion with his head. They would have to do this the hard way, not that he minded. Heavy handed discussions like the one that would have followed this were not something he wanted to put up with when they had never proven effective before.

They turned and walked a little ways down the cobblestone path until they were out of sight.

"Now what do we do?"

"We lure them away from the building, take care of them, and move in that way."

Flynn frowned. Of course, he noticed all of the potential problems with this direct plan.

"If that's the only way."

"We just need a distraction of some sort."

Repede took that as his signal and trotted forward, looking back at Yuri and wuffing. When he received a nod, he continued up the path in a full run, barking wildly. The commotion got the knights' attention easily and they chased Repede, shouting, right down the way and into an ambush. Rita scattered their formation with a fireball and, once separated, Yuri and the others easily picked them off.

He and Flynn stashed their unconscious bodies in a row of bushes and then headed for the door once more. Repede sniffed around for a few moments, leading them from the front door, through the uselessly ornate gardens, and to the side of the house that looked out to the ocean. There were no lower level windows and the upper level ones were barred over. If that wasn't suspicious, he didn't know what was. On the lower level of the house, they found a door that led to a mechanical lift. Upon further examination, he found that the controls only seemed to allow the lift to go down. It was better than nothing, though.

"Looks like this is our way in." He stepped in first, examining the controls. Regretfully, he didn't have much of a mechanical aptitude.

Rita squeezed between him and the control panel. With a few buttons, the lift shuddered and began its descent. It was slow, but after a few moments, it stopped abruptly in what he assumed was the basement. The doors opened with a similar stuttering to a dark room, with only the little illumination from the lift to light the way.

The air here was heavy and full of a scent that he knew all too well. It didn't take him any time to figure out what had probably happened to the missing people. He had really suspected all along. Repede growled at his side, alerting him to the dozens of eyes shining out of the darkness at them. He drew his sword, sliding a little ahead of the others and moving fluidly into a fighting stance.

"Rita, can we get some lights in here?”

"Don't rush me!" She fiddled with the panel some more, obviously having seen the myriad of eyes.

Repede barked, rushing forward. His eyes allowed him the ability to fight in these conditions. Growls and barks and yelps and snarls betrayed to Yuri bits of the on-going fight. He had no need to worry. The warrior dog was more than holding his own.

When the lights remained unlit after a moment, he pressed forward also, in spite of the others. His eyes had acclimated enough to allow him to see shapes in the shadows and Repede's familiar barks alerted him to his own position and the positions of the monsters before him. Darkness be damned, he was going to fight anyway. He didn't let it hinder him. He still moved smoothly from one motion to the next, his sword slicing through one enemy after another. He closed his useless eyes and listened to Repede for how to place each movement. He had fought in conditions worse than these.

Finally the lights flickered on uneasily, their garish yellow light stinging his eyes as he opened them, and revealed a scene he almost would rather not have seen at all.

Littering the stone floor were the bodies of numerous monsters, wolves and basilisks, and skeletal remains, bones picked clean and bodies ravaged. They were unmistakably human remains.

He looked back to the others, who stood there in shock. Flynn was angry, but tight lipped. Estelle stared down in horror, her green eyes wide and watery, with one hand clamped over her mouth. Rita stared down and away, and Karol was looking over the scene with a horrified shock similar to Estelle's

"Who... who would do such a thing?" Estelle asked, fighting to maintain her calm.

"My guess is the magistrate."

"We have no real conclusive evidence--" Flynn started to snap.

"Because this isn't evidence enough for you?" Yuri didn't look over at him or his anger would have been plain to see. Rather than continue on what would have been a disturbing tirade on the disillusioned knight, he examined the fallen monsters.

He shoved the body of a wolf aside with his foot and found something gold glittering against its half torn open and bloodied neck. He knelt, and among the blood matted, greasy fur, he found a thick gold chain from which hung a large key. His blood boiled in thinking what kind of sick game this person was playing.

He yanked the chain and the soft metal snapped easily. He stood and let the bloody key dangle from the remainder of the chain between his fingers. "We're probably going to need this to get out of here."

The knight saw the key and looked only further disgusted. He obviously knew what was going on here. Even someone as hard headed as Flynn couldn't ignore evidence like this. Yuri ignored this. They needed to keep moving forward.

There were two doors, one along the far wall and one along the left. He tried to think about the possible layout of the building above, but the basement could be vastly different. Even so, inward seemed like the logical choice, so he moved to the door on the far wall. He pushed the question of where the large, black stain of blood on it came from to the back of his mind, and opened the door. The key must have been for a room further in. The others followed and they moved a few rooms into the basement, fighting the numerous, blood thirsty monsters that charged recklessly at them, hungry for another taste of human flesh.

This place was a maze, but Repede picked up a scent and was leading them onward to what Yuri was certain would be the way to the main manor.

They entered a room and were not immediately attacked, which surprised him. A group of four wolves was crowded into a corner, bearing down on something. A small gasp between their growls got his adrenaline pumping again.

Repede heard it, too, and charged them, barking angrily. The wolves turned and started to bear against the dog, but he took one of them out before Yuri could get over to help.

The defeat of the monsters revealed what they had been stalking. A small child, maybe five or six, huddled in the corner next to the mangled body of a man. He looked over to them, his eyes wide and hollow, before turning back to shaking the body beside him with a single tiny hand.

Yuri crouched down and examined the boy. He looked unharmed save a few scratches and bruises, but Estelle easily fixed that with her healing artes.

"Are you Pauly?" she asked, placing her hands gently on his small shoulders.

The boy nodded, but remained silent. Yuri guessed that he was probably catatonic from the shock. It wouldn't surprise him. He passed care of the child to Estelle as he moved to check out the body of the man. The wedding ring on his finger matched the one the woman they met earlier had been wearing. He pulled it from the man's cold fingers and pressed it into the boy's hand.

"We're going to get you out of here. Don't worry. Be sure to give this to your mom, okay?"

Pauly nodded again, looking at the ring in his hand for a moment before curling his small, pudgy fingers around it tightly.

"Repede."

The dog trotted up and licked the child's face.

"Get him out of here and back to his mother. Catch up with us as soon as possible." Yuri lifted the child and placed him sitting on the dog's back. "Hold on tight. Repede'll take good care of you."

The boy leaned into Repede, wrapping his arms around the dog's neck.

Repede wuffed and then ran off in the direction of the lift.

"Yuri...."

"Let's find the way upstairs. I'm ready to have a talk with this magistrate." His anger turned ice cold. He had felt this way numerous times before, and when it came over him, it was a powerful sensation that quickened his step and sharpened his blade and focus. He didn't like it, but he had long since learned to live with it. His choices had put him here. As angry as he was though, he had to be careful not to lose himself here.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: Half of the time in these author's notes, I have no idea what to say. I'm sorry.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

Even though he maintained his calm and cool exterior, Flynn could tell that beneath his pale skin, Yuri's blood was raging. He wasn't sure how he knew. Perhaps it was the way his eyes narrowed and darkened and lacked his normal sarcasm and humor. The sharp efficiency of his blade did not look much different, but Flynn could tell that he was no longer in the fight, but a million miles beyond it, the bodies of his enemies already fallen before him. There was no thrill in the fight that he usually had.

They shared anger, but the difference between their emotions was so different. While both internalized, Flynn's burned white hot with the desire to bring this man to justice. Yuri's was ice cold with the need for revenge. Or at least he assumed.

What he knew of the justice system in Dahngrest was that it was far from the fairness of the Empire. It was founded on and encouraged revenge. There was boundless vigilante justice. It was a ruthless, lawless place.

The scenes in the next few rooms were less horrifying, mostly because it seemed as though not many of the people who were held here made it very far. After a while, they reached a door with a wolf head carved into it. The key Yuri had collected opened the blood-rusted lock and allowed them entry to a room that was larger than the others, with a series of thick metal bars across the center, blocking them from the set of stairs across the room that led up. This was meant to be a dungeon of horrors. As they stepped forward a buzz sounded throughout the room.

"What was that?"

"An alarm system."

Repede's bark echoed from the rooms they had previously traveled and he bolted in, straight to Yuri's side just as the wolf head door slammed shut and locked.

"Good job." Yuri smiled down at his partner and then lifted his gaze to a more present threat.

Down the stairs came a thin man with graying hair, wearing dark, ornate robes that Flynn knew were typical of members of the Imperial Council. He approached them, his hands folded behind his back and a long, thin smile across his face.

"Well, well. What have we here?"

"You must be Ragou." Yuri's voice was sharp as he spoke.

"Frankly, I'm surprised that you made it this far. No one else has."

"The crimes that you have perpetrated here are unforgivable, Ragou!" Estellise stepped forward, pointing at the magistrate.

"What an interesting bunch of rats I've caught in my trap. A mage, some riffraff, a mongrel, the Scifo Boy, and our dear Princess Estellise. Pity you'll all have to die here."

"Why would you do this? Such horrors committed against your own people! What could you possibly accomplish by doing these things?" Flynn wanted to take the Magistrate into custody, but with circumstances as they were, he could not.

"The Empire is changing, boy. These people were useless to me. And we no longer have need for the idealistic knights like yourself and your father. We are moving forward into a new age and you are outdated." He turned his back to them. "Surrender the princess and I will allow you to live."

"Like that'll ever happen!" Yuri shouted before he could, his hand gripped tightly on the cell bars before him.

"I see. It's a pity that I don't have time to play with you myself. Looks like I'll have to leave you to play with my beloved Rhybgaro for now."

Above them, that buzzer rang again, nearly deafening this time.

A huge door opened beside where they had entered and a thunder of hoof beats followed. The room shook with a mighty tremor as a huge, golden horned beast crashed in. It paused only long enough for them to get a good glimpse of it before it charged at them, head and horn lowered for the most effective attack.

They scattered, sending the Rhybgaro straight into the prison bars. It stumbled, disoriented as its full weight hit the bars, and it tried to get back up on its ungainly long legs. As he readied for battle, Flynn could see out of the corner of his eye Ragou head back up the stairs he had come down. With the way blocked, they could not follow. As the Rhybgaro circled back to charge them again, they scattered once more, sending it into the bars again. The dent the creature left this time was sizable, bending the bars, and the smirk on Yuri's face told him that they were thinking the same thing.

"One more time should do it."

They regrouped and waited for the monster to do the same. It paced frantically, eyeing them, snorting and whinnying. It was afraid of them. Maybe it hadn't been after them at all, so much as Ragou or even attempting escape.

"Wait." Flynn lowered his sword. "I think it's scared of us."

"What?"

"I don't think it's attacking us. I think it just wants to escape." He sheathed his sword and held up both his hands in front of him to show the beast that he was unarmed. He took a step forward, stopping briefly before taking another.

It snorted at him and stared him down but didn't move. Those golden eyes shone with fear. A few more steps and he was able to get a better look at it. The monster was covered in bruises and lacerations. It was malnourished and missing patches of fur. He had noticed before that it favored one of its front legs over the other, and the markings on its horn told of earlier attempts at escape that surely failed. It stomped nervously as he made his approach further.

"Lady Estellise, would you come heal it? It's pretty badly injured." He maintained eye contact with the Rhybgaro.

"O-oh, all right." She sheathed her sword as well and followed Flynn's slow style of steps. After a long, tense moment, she got close enough to use her healing artes.

It reared and whinnied in fright. Flynn slid between her and the Rhybgaro to shield her, but it calmed soon after. It pawed the ground, turning its eyes to the gate.

"Move out of the way.”

Yuri, Karol, Rita, and Repede moved quickly to the adjacent wall and just as they cleared the gate, the Rhybgaro charged.

Now healthy, it put all of its strength into it and the bars came crashing down. It looked back at them briefly before continuing its escape though a hole it tore in one of the walls.

"That was... interesting. But we need to catch up with Ragou. We can't let him escape."

They rushed up the stairs where Ragou had gone before them. The long, dark stairway took them high into the mansion and that was confirmed when the path opened out onto a balcony, overlooking a lower floor, a bridge connecting this platform to another. On the opposite side of the platform was a towering machine that nearly reached the high ceiling. Somehow it looked familiar to Flynn, but he couldn't place it. It pulsed and glowed red and hummed as its gears turned.

Rita rushed over to it, yards between them before they were able to follow and she opened the blastia control panel in a flash.

"Rita, wait!"

"It _is_ a blastia!" Her eyes scanned the data carefully and she stroked her chin. "It's a lot like the barrier at Ehmead Hill. It's just a jumbled mess of formula that's somehow working."

"Could this be what's causing the strange weather?"

"Blastia can't control the weather... normally. If I just...." She tapped a few of the glyph symbols and the machine sputtered. The humming ceased as the gears ground to a halt.

From the one window on the left hand wall, they could see the storm clouds rapidly dissipate.

"So it was affecting the weather. But how?"

"What are you doing to my machine?! How did you escape the Rhybgaro?!" Ragou shouted from where he had been hidden near another set of stairs.

"We're shutting you down, you monster." Yuri turned, sword at the ready and his charcoal eyes ice cold.

"Guards!"

Knights of the Cumore Brigade filed in. Yuri easily turned his fury on them, his dog partner following suit. Rita kept by the machine in her examination, with Karol and Estelle acting as back up. Flynn also turned his blade against his fellow knights. Right now, he had an important job and he couldn't let his own comrades get in his way.

Wave after wave of them attacked. Why were so many knights here and why were they protecting someone who was obviously doing sinister things and breaking the law? Was Cumore in on this, too? And possibly Alexei? Why were they defending a man that Flynn felt so sure was responsible for the near genocide of this town? And he was just standing there smugly.

The battle had all of his focus until he heard a loud crash and Rita's shout as a shower of glass rained down on them. He turned just in time to see a figure wearing strange, angular white armor on the back of a dragon like creature enter through the now shattered window. The creature let out a terrifying shriek, sending Rita stumbling back from the machine. An orange glow in its mouth quickly became a ball of flame.

"What are you doing, you dragon freak?!"

More confused shouting followed, but he only caught bits and pieces while fending off attacks from the knights.

The dragon fired the ball at Rita, narrowly missing and hitting the machine instead. It burst into flames, its power source rupturing from the intensity of the heat and sending the mage skidding back further, until she was nearly back to back with Estellise. She was on her feet in a flash though, shouting and swearing and returning fire even as Estellise was checking on her and trying to keep her away from the growing blaze. The beast and its rider looked at her in disinterest as they circled the room once and then flew back out the window.

The fire blazed, consuming every useless tapestry and wooden molding in its path as it grew. When Rita managed to put it out using her water based artes, it was too late. The damage to the blastia had been done. There were bigger problems now though.

"Hurry up! Ragou's getting away!" Yuri felled the last of the knights, knocking him out with a clean blow to his helmet and turned in a full run to follow Repede. The dog was nearly on the escaping magistrate's heals.

Flynn rallied the others quickly and they followed.

The exit on the balcony past the machine brought them outside, to a long pier, where a small ship was quickly pulling away with Ragou and a few other men aboard. Yuri and Repede were in mid leap onto the boat before the others reached the end of the pier to follow. They scrambled to make the jump as well and in the end, Yuri and Repede had to pull Karol aboard when he missed the deck by a foot and was left clinging to the port side railing.

The fight from a moment earlier was not over yet as they were besieged by mercenaries instead of knights. Flynn had no hesitation in fighting this enemy, and where he expected to see Yuri falter against these who were probably of the Union, his graceful ferocity

had not ebbed in the slightest.

"What's goin' on out 'ere?" A thunderous voice from the cabin was followed by the appearance of a large, stocky man, whose most startling feature was the head of a mace affixed to his left arm in place of a hand. He was an imposing figure to say the least. He looked down over them as if they were nothing but a passing nuisance, but for a fleeting second, he stared Yuri down with the barest trace of concern on his face. In return, Yuri's anger seemed fresh once more and his grip on his sword tightened until his knuckles turned white. "So yer the worms Ragou's running from? Pitiful. Zagi!"

"What is it? Who do I get to kill now?"

The blond and magenta haired assassin slid from around the outer wall of the cabin, confident and lithe.

"Kill 'em. All of 'em."

Zagi didn't question, only brandished his blades, a wicked and wild, toothy grin spreading across his face. "Why if it isn't my favorite playmate, Flynn Scifo!"

Flynn barely had time to raise his blade before Zagi was on him, lashing out wildly. The assassin's blades moved in such a frenzy that Flynn was struggling to defend himself, much less make an attack of his own. Most of the injuries that he received from the whirl of blades were minor, but stung and as their numbers mounted, he was growing worried. He was being toyed with and at any time now, Zagi would switch to a more devastating attack. He could only hope that he gave him an opening then.

But Karol did that for him, attempting to bring his giant sword down on Zagi's head. The assassin rolled out of the way, giving Flynn time to get his footing and take the opportunity to attack. Zagi parried with one knife, but the other moved in to strike.

"It's been fun, Flynn Scifo, but now you die!"

"Guys like you never learn!" Yuri charged, dropping his shoulder and ramming into the knife wielding maniac.

Zagi was thrown back and flipped backward over the starboard side railing and

into the water.

"Thanks."

"Whatever." Yuri shrugged it off. "I was just tired of looking at his ugly mug."

"Can't you just accept a simple thank--"

"No time!"

Zagi leapt out of the water with a splash, sopping wet and his face red with anger. "You'll pay for that with your life!" He spun at them to attack once more, faster than last time, swinging and screaming. They each caught one of his knives, and he pressed down on them in the parry, hoping for them to lose their footing or slip up. "Why are you getting in my way, Yuri?!"

"Cause I feel like it!"

"You should understand, Yuri! You and I are the same!"

"I am nothing like you, Zagi!" Yuri shifted his weight onto one leg and lifted the other. He kicked the assassin square in the knee as hard as he could. There was a loud snap and Zagi crumpled slightly, cringing, the block weakening, but Yuri wasn't done yet. He pulled back his sword, risking getting sliced by the still falling blades. He moved swiftly, twisting to avoid the knife, and slamming his right hand into the center of Zagi's chest.

The force threw the assassin back and into the door of the ship's cabin. He slumped against the deck with a groan. He struggled to stand for a moment, fumbling like a wounded animal before he started laughing in a way that was unsettling.

"Ragou's escaping!" Estellise shouted from the starboard side, pointing to a skiff bobbing in the waves that carried Ragou, the towering man, and a smattering of mercenaries.

"Fuck!"

Zagi had merely been a distraction and he drew their attention once more. "I won't let you win that easily!" In place of his knife, he now held a flaming torch. Without any hesitation, he dropped it easily on the stair railing and after only a few seconds it was ablaze.

Flynn's gaze darted around frantically. There were no lifeboats and they were too far from Nor Harbor to even swim there without getting attacked by whatever could be lurking in the waters. They were trapped like rats on a flaming ship. As the flames spread, there came a loud pop, followed by the gushing of water that told him the hull had cracked from the heat and pressure and that they were now trapped on a sinking, flaming ship.

Yuri swore again, grabbing some rope from a cubbyhole nearby and tossing it to Flynn. "Get the girls tied up and yourself, too." He pushed a couple of barrels overboard and tossed a line to Karol. "Get Repede and yourself."

"But Yuri--

"I'm right behind you. Just jump in and swim to the barrels."

Flynn mutely did as he was ordered, knotting a single length of rope around both Rita and Estellise, and then himself, allowing a yard or so of slack between each of them.

Yuri dashed by, heading for the flaming cabin.

Flynn shouted after him. It was crazy, but Yuri had already disappeared amid the blaze. There was no time to waste as the flames grew hotter and larger. Karol and Repede mounted the railing on the starboard side and jumped in together. After surfacing, they drug themselves to the floating barrels. Yuri still had not returned.

"Go on. I'm going back for him." Flynn picked apart the knot around himself as fast as he could, driven by a strange feeling that he couldn't recognize that formed a hard knot in his throat. Could he really be worried for this person? Breaking loose, he allowed the girls to jump while he rushed to where Yuri had disappeared.

It was too hot for him to make it through to the cabin and he saw no sight of Yuri or the assassin Zagi.

"I told you to get out of here!"

He looked up to see Yuri at the wheel, steering the ship to the port side away from the others. He was unharmed and landed easily on the deck, grabbing Flynn by the back of his shirt.

"I wasn't leaving without you."

"Idiot!" Yuri pushed him hard to the edge of the ship.

Flynn jumped of his own accord, as the flames engulfed the last of the ship, and he heard Yuri's feet leave the deck behind him. He splashed down in the water and gasped for air a second too late. He struggled to swim, but all his limbs felt so heavy suddenly and just beyond the curtain of water, he could see the burning ship explode and above that, the hot yellow sun. Darkness crept over him as his lungs burned to breathe. When he could hold his breath no longer, a stream of bubbles erupted from him, air leaving him and cold, salty seawater replacing it in his lungs.

Just above him was a dark spot, blocking out the light of the sun. It grew closer and closer and he staved off the darkness that was choking the life out of him.

Whatever it was, it was too late.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: At some point later on in the fic, I'm going to put together a tumblr post with all the hilarious and horrifying chapter descriptions I made up for this fic.

Tales of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

After all his hard work, he still didn't want to take a break. There was a monster on the loose, and while he was ready to be after it, the others needed some time to recuperate after their ordeal.

He sat on the sandy shore, letting the dawn's warm light dry his wet clothing on his back. Rita and Estelle had wandered off behind some bushes to wring out theirs and Karol and Repede had run on ahead to scout out the area. He was left sitting there with a half drowned idiot, who still lay unconscious in the sand.

Yuri ached, but he didn't mind the rope burns that ringed his chest, red and raw and still stinging with sea water. They would just be another set of scars to remind him of his experiences. He had swam all night, driven by the safety of his motley crew of comrades and the frozen anger that had ebbed a little since their untimely dip in the ocean, but still remained. He certainly had a lot to tell Gramps about when they made it to Dahngrest. As of now, they were a little more than halfway there, provided the current of the ocean hadn't swept them too far down the coasts of Tolbyccia.

A groan from beside him tore him out of his thoughts and he tilted his head down, letting his wet hair slide across one of his shoulders as he looked to the stirring blond. "Morning."

Flynn groaned again, pulling his no doubt heavy body out of the sand and sitting up. He rubbed his forehead and pushed his short, damp hair out of his face. It took him a moment to get his bearings. "Lady Estellise!" He tried to scramble to his feet, but was hindered by the soft, white sand.

"Relax. Estelle's fine. She and Rita went to dry off."

He sunk back into the sand like a heavy weight was dragging him down and let out a sigh of relief. "Is everyone all right?"

"We all made it here in one piece."

He started to ask another question, but it was drowned out by the ruckus Karol and Repede were making on their way back down the shore line.

"Yuri! Yuri!"

"What's up, Karol?"

"We got lucky! We're only a few miles from Capua Torim!"

"Good job." He smiled broadly, ruffling the boy's brown hair. They probably needed to stop and rest for the night, but Torim Harbor wasn't the ideal place to do that. It was all they had for now, though.

Estelle and Rita emerged from the bushes a little ways down the shore, their clothing still damp and wrinkled from wringing the water out of it.

"Flynn, you're awake!"

"Yes. Thank you for your concern, Lady Estellise."

"I was so worried when you almost drowned. But Yuri, he--"

"We should get going. Karol says we're close to Torim Harbor. We can get a proper meal and some rest before moving on."

"Oh. Okay."

He took the lead and she walked along side of him, asking if he was really all right. He always replied that he was fine. In spite of her regal upbringing, she was much more caring than he would have expected. While indecisive at times and incredibly naive, she was slowly and surely learning to make choices for and defend herself. Her dutiful knight and his labels seemed to try to hinder that, but once a person has had a taste of freedom, they want nothing else.

That thought reminded him of his own figurative shackles. He was 'free' for now, but he knew that Flynn was keeping him on a short leash. He was only allowing him this much freedom because he was cooperating.

"I'm sorry, Yuri." Her head was bowed low, staring at the grass as they hiked up a hill.

"Hm?" He glanced over curiously.

"I still don't know what I can offer you in exchange for your help. You've done so much for us."

He knew as well as she did that she was in no position to promise him his release. "That's fine. We're still a few days from Dahngrest. You've got some time to think about it." At least she was trying to cooperate with him as well. He appreciated that, when realistically, she could simply use her power to try and push him around like the knight seemed fond of doing.

Estelle didn't act much like a princess. Her occasional regal and authoritative bursts put him off guard, but most of the time, she was friendly and sincere, helpful and knowledgeable in spite of her naivete. Even though he was a criminal, a guildsman, and the enemy, she treated him with the same sisterly respect that she gave the others, and nearly everyone else that she met. It often left him wondering where the Empire had managed to find a princess like this.

It was less than an hour to Capua Torim and unlike its sister city, its atmosphere hadn't changed much. He still didn't like it here, though. The weather was nicer, but it only made the rundown look of the city more apparent. The barricaded entrance offered little resistance as he bribed the knight there for entry and they were allowed access to the city of filthy streets and dilapidated buildings.

"What happened here?" Estelle asked.

"Oh, all this?"

"Yes. I thought that Capua Torim was supposed to be a beautiful, lively place."

"That was true a few years ago." He lead them through the lifeless market, filled with overpriced fruit, fish, and healing items. Knights dotted the street corners and he waited until they were past to explain. "It's been like this since the war started. Once the Empire declared war against the Union, this city went under military occupation and they kicked out Fortune's Market."

"Fortune's Market?"

Karol answered for him. "Fortune's Market is one of the five Master Guilds that make up the Union. Their headquarters was here. They were the largest supplier of goods in Terca Lumireis."

"Yep. They shut down the warehouses and trade routes and burnt down the guild leader, Kaufman's, home. Since then, trade has all but dried up in this town."

"That's awful."

"Wait. That's not true. The Union declared war on the Empire at the Battle of Heliord. This is common knowledge," Flynn interrupted.

"Oh yes. Because everything that the Empire says is without a doubt the truth." Yuri barely contained the hiss in his voice as he glared at the blond. This knight's blind devotion grated on his nerves and brought the anger that had been driving him up to the surface once more.

Flynn stiffened, muscles tensing with a similar rage and he reached out to grab Yuri. Estelle stopped him, placing herself between them.

"We don't have time to fight. The most important thing right now is that we work together."

"Give it up, Estellise." Rita butted in. "They're both stubborn idiots."

Yuri pulled back first, putting a few yards distance between himself and the blond. It wasn't that he wasn't up for another brawl, because he was itching to show Flynn how he felt the best way he knew how, but Estelle was right. They needed to get to Dahngrest. He didn't care about the Empire itself, but the innocent people who could be harmed as a result of whatever Alexei was doing were defenseless and if their leaders were not going to help them, then who would? These obedient and disillusioned knights? Not likely.

"Let's just get to the inn. I'm ready for a nap."

The rest of the walk was silent in spite of the mounting tensions between Flynn and himself. The innkeeper informed them that there was only one vacant room at a staggering sum, but Yuri paid without complaint. There was little else they could do right now.

"Rita, Estelle. You two can share a bed. Karol, you take the other one." Flynn didn't disagree, but he hadn't expected him to.

Yuri threw his pack into a vacant corner after pulling out his blanket.

"You should really take one of the beds, Yuri. You must be so tired after everything that happened."

"I'll be fine on the floor. I've slept in worse places." He flopped down and Repede joined him.

"That can't be comfortable. Please, I insist." Even Estelle's urging wouldn't budge him once he made up his mind.

"I said don't worry about it."

"Watch your tone." Flynn was quick to counter his rather toneless comment.

Yuri looked up at him from the floor. He was in no mood to deal with this. "All I said was for her not to worry about it."

"The tone you took was uncalled for. Your whole attitude is disrespectful and need I remind you that you are in no position to act as such?"

He wanted to let it go and just roll over and nap against his partner, but the rage that still burned just below his skin froze him in place, staring up at that idiot knight who would so easily find any fault and ferret it out as if he were perfect. He had never met any one person who was so aggravating. "Oh yeah? Well, I don't think you're in much of a position to be treating me like this. After all, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even made it out of the castle."

Flynn's every muscle tightened again.

"If you think I'm going to take this shit from some impotent knight, you have another thing coming."

"Yuri!"

Before Estelle could chastise them further, Flynn was pulling him up off the wooden floor and he was fighting back. He had baited him on purpose, hoping to start a fight. A few punches between them would get the tension across and make their feelings for each other and this whole nonsense very painfully clear. Yuri ripped himself out of Flynn's grasp and before either could throw a punch, Repede stopped them just as he had last time.

It only caused the tension between them to worsen.

He straightened himself up and moved to the door of their tiny room. "I'm going for a walk."

Flynn stomped after him, but Estelle stopped him.

He didn't wait to hear what was said and paused only briefly enough to allow Repede to catch up with him. They left the inn and walked down the stone stairs before all the anger that burned inside of him begged for release. He turned swiftly and punched a sizable hole in the brick of the inn staircase. The anger melted and ebbed back and he breathed a little sigh as he pulled his bloodied hand back. It stung a little, but it wasn't anything worse than he had dealt with before.

Repede whined at his side.

"Sorry. I'd rather that had been his jaw, but I guess I'll take what I can get."

* * *

 

As soon as Yuri left the room, his frustration diminished a little and he tried to relax in the presence of the others. Karol was looking at him in shock, but when he noticed that Flynn glanced at him, he busied himself with his carving. Rita bore her usual disinterest, eyes darting over pages of her huge book at record speeds. Estellise however, was not ready to let the incident go.

"Flynn, we need to talk."

"About what, Lady Estellise?" His tone sounded normal with her, unlike when he spoke to Yuri. He wasn't straining to be civil. He was sincere.

She grabbed him by the hand and led him outside of the inn. She cornered him on the stone patio stairs in front of the door. He wasn't used to this behavior, but she obviously had a point that she wanted to get across, and as a knight, he would listen.

"Please, try to be nicer to Yuri."

"Lady Estellise--"

"I know that the two of you don't get along, but after everything that he's done for us, maybe we should try to be a little more thoughtful of him, okay?"

"I know that we were able to escape the capital because of his assistance and make it this far, but that is only because he is hoping for a pardon in exchange."

"He's done more than that and I know that his reasons are more than just that. Maybe he won't admit it, but he really cares about people. I mean, without him, you would have drowned." She folded her hands against her chest and looked down.

"What?"

"He risked his life to save you when you almost drowned. And when we were too tired to swim any longer, he tied our tow lines around himself and drug us all to shore." This information astounded him. Up until that moment, he had believed that they had merely managed to drift ashore. "Maybe he doesn't care about the Empire, but I feel like he really cares about people whether they're with the Union or the Empire. So, can we please try to get along?"

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry." He didn't want to go apologize, but he knew that the dark haired swordsman deserved at least a sincere 'thank you' for saving his life and the life of the princess. His head had cooled considerably in the few moments' time.

"Thank you." She stepped back inside and left him to wander the port side town.

It was much more dreary than he initially thought, and he avoided the eyes of the other knights in case they might recognize him. He hadn't seen any wanted posters hanging around, but he couldn't be too careful at this point. He walked quietly back through the market, avoiding eye contact with the merchants there before heading to the pier. The ocean wouldn't offer him much peace, as small and insignificant as it made him feel, but maybe Yuri had walked down this way.

He knew he was right when he spotted the dark figure at the end of the dock, standing with his partner and staring out across the ocean. He paused before he approached. If Yuri was still in a bad mood, he would wait to speak with him.

Yuri's long black hair billowed in the sea breeze, sweeping across his shoulders and revealing a form that Flynn hadn't realized before seemed so slender. Was this a person who really had enough strength to drag four people and a dog to shore from the middle of a strait all by himself? He knew that the guildsman was a strong fighter. There was no doubt about that.

"You gonna stand there mooning over me or are you actually planning on talking?" Yuri turned, leaning back against one of the pier supports with an easy confidence and a smirk that hid any anger he might have been feeling.

If this person was really as strong as they said, he needed to know for himself, and when he opened his mouth to thank him, something entirely different and unexpected came out.

"I want to fight you."

Yuri's smirked melted into a confused stare and then laughter. "You want to fight me?"

"Yes." Now that he had said it, there was no taking it back.

"Fine. We'll fight tomorrow, then. After we get on the road to Dahngrest. That work for you?"

He nodded. He still wanted to thank him, but the words were lost now. Instead of standing there staring uncomfortably, he turned on his heel and walked back to the inn.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes: Fitting some sub events and side quests in was an awful lot of fun and I feel like they helped to flesh out the characters like in the game.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

Yuri and Repede returned from their outing in time for dinner, which the innkeeper brought them that evening. It was a simple meal, but they ate without complaint. Afterward, Flynn nestled down on the floor in front of the door. Yuri had long since dozed off with Repede across from him, but Flynn waited for Rita and Estellise to both safely return from their baths and for Karol to settle in before he allowed himself to close his eyes. 

Sleep didn't come easily and he was left sitting there with his eyes closed. The feel of the cold, salt sea washed over him and he felt breathless as his body relived what had nearly been the final moments of his life. The water pounded in his ears, drowning out all sound and his lungs began to burn from the salt and not breathing. It was suddenly cold and dark and so quiet. The thought that he had been that close to death scared him. His eyes shot open and he gasped for breath. The dark, quiet inn room around him and the warm air in his lungs reassured him that he was in fact alive.

Everything was the same as when he closed his eyes. Estellise and Rita were curled up on one of the beds together, and Karol spread eagle on the other, all in a deep, restful sleep. Yuri and Repede were still laying on the floor across from him.

Flynn sighed a little with relief. He had survived and now he knew two things. He was tiny and insignificant, and death terrified him.

His father Finath died a hero's death and was so recognized by the Empire. He had been a great and honorable man. Flynn hadn't had his chance to make his changes in the world. He had accomplished nothing. He hadn't contributed to the Empire or to his people. Flynn had done nothing and yet death had come so close. Had it not been for Yuri, what would have happened? Would his life's potential have been unfulfilled? He would have been unable to fulfill the promise to his father to do all he could for the Empire. He would have been a failure.

"You still awake?" Yuri sat up, kicking off his blanket.

"Yes."

"Not used to sleeping on a floor, huh?"

"It's not that. I'm just not very tired." He felt like the dark haired man was baiting him again.

Those charcoal eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the room. "Well, you better get some rest if you want to have any chance of beating me tomorrow."

"If you say so."

Yuri looked over to their sleeping comrades but turned his head quickly back to the door. Just beyond it, a little ways down the hall, they could hear the faintest whispers. Flynn perked up his ears too, as did Repede, who woke rather suddenly, growling low in his throat. One of the voices was that of the innkeeper. He didn't recognize the others and he couldn't recognize what was being said at first.

After a moment of tense straining to hear, he made out a few words. "Wanted... bounty...." A chill of fear came over him, almost worse than only a moment ago when he had relived his near death. They had been found out, and as he looked over to Yuri, he knew that he had heard it and had come to the same conclusion.

The guildsman was on his feet in seconds, stuffing his pack and rousing the others. Flynn followed.

"Hey, Estelle. Rita. Get up. We have to go now." He shook each of them gently which a sort of familiarity that made Flynn uncomfortable.

She roused a little and he leaned down to whisper in her ear, shaking her again. She jumped out of bed, grabbing Rita in the process, who woke slowly and angrily, muttering incantations and formulas. "Come on, Rita. We have to go."

"Why...?"

"We've been found. We need to get out of town."

She grumbled, throwing her pack across her shoulders.

Yuri moved on to Karol, waking him a little more roughly. The boy got up after just a few seconds and got ready to leave while the older guildsman moved to the window. He watched from the side for a moment before sliding it open. Repede hopped up, his front paws on the sill and looking out, too.

After a moment, the dog jumped out of the window, his soft paw pads hitting the alley below quietly. Flynn and the others gathered to watch as the dog paced the alley, up and down before raising his head to Yuri.

"He says that coast is clear. Let's go." Yuri jumped first, landing next to the dog, and waved up to Estellise. "Come on. Jump."

She climbed into the windowsill, looking down nervously.

"I'll catch you." He held his arms up.

Estellise closed her eyes, dropping out of the window and before she knew it, she had landed safely in Yuri's arms. He set her down and extended his arms up for Rita, who ignored them and hit the ground on her own with no problem. Karol followed.

Flynn didn't like the flush of pink that lingered in Estellise's face or the way Yuri interacted with her in such a familiar way. As the bedroom door opened behind him, he had no time to complain and just jumped.

"Let's go. Before they catch up."

And they ran. They wound along old foot paths out of the coast town and into the nearby forest until it was clear they were not being followed.

"Everybody okay?"

A round of exhausted, yawning nods followed.

"Okay. We'll stop here for now. Get some rest. I'll keep watch."

"But, Yuri...." Estellise started to object.

"It's fine. I got plenty of sleep earlier." He sat on a fallen tree, one knee pulled up to his chest.

She didn't protest further. A little while later, she, Rita, and Karol were fast asleep once more. Flynn couldn't sleep though. Try as he might, every time he closed his eyes, that terrifying feeling of being at death's door crept back in and clung to his every already raw and agitated nerve.

"Still can't sleep?" Yuri must have noticed him toss and turn. What sounded like an innocent enough question striped back his patience, bringing his festering fear and pain straight to the surface. If Yuri was good at nothing else, he excelled in knowing just what to say to get on Flynn's last nerve, whether he meant to or not.

"I'm just not tired!" He hadn't meant to snap at him, but for some reason, Yuri elicited reactions from him that no one else did.

Yuri shrugged it off as easily as he did everything else.

Flynn threw off his blanket and took to pacing to try and ease his mind. It wasn't helping.

"If you keep stomping around like that, you'll wake them up." Yuri pulled an apple out of his pack and started snacking on it in such a carefree manner that it only maddened Flynn further. Was he completely unconcerned with everything that had transpired over the past week? Did he not care that half of the Imperial Knights were after them and they were wanted in probably every town from Zaphias to Dahngrest? Did nothing faze him?

"How can you be so calm?!"

"Chill out. There's not a whole lot we can do right now, and stressing yourself out over it isn't helping."

Rather than pace further and risk waking up the younger party members, he sat down on the fallen tree also.

"I'm surprised she's able to sleep so well, seeing as she's the one they're after." He looked over to Flynn. "Why are Alexei and Ragou both interested in her?"

"I-I don't know."

"It has something to do with her healing artes, doesn't it? Because she's not using that blastia she wears when she casts."

How had he noticed? His shocked face surely betrayed the truth.

"And that thing she did back in Halure. That's why they're so interested in her."

He was silent. How should he respond? He didn't really know what her powers completely entailed, but Yuri was right. They were after her and that was probably why.

"Don't worry. She's a good kid. I won't let anything bad happen to her."

This man was suddenly a threat again. "You keep your hands off of her."

"Woah. Take it easy."

"She is pure and innocent and I will not allow you to--"

"Oh. You think that I..." He made a small strangled sound and then broke into laughter that only enraged Flynn further.

"I'm serious. Don't you dare touch her."

"I'm not interested in her."

"What?"

"I assure you that I am no threat to her innocence."

He leaned back, narrowing his eyes and studying the dark haired man.

"I like guys."

Flynn remained silent. Those words moved in one ear and right out of the other. He kept his eyes trained on the man, watching carefully for the slightest trace of mischievousness. In spite of everything, could he believe a word that came out of this man's mouth? Maybe it was just the lingering ache in his limbs and brain wearing on him, making him unduly suspicious and angry.

"Wow. You really don't get it, do you?" Before Flynn could ask what he meant, Yuri leaned forward and pressed his lips against Flynn's and held him in place with a warm, calloused hand on one of Flynn's cheeks, fingers pressing into his flesh.

He was trapped for a long moment, that strange sensation pooling at the end of his spine once more. It rose in his chest like a strange, warm swell, overpowering him. He couldn't move. He couldn't push back. All his thoughts turned hazy and muddled and, even as Yuri pulled away, they failed to collect themselves. His eyes fixed on Yuri's mouth as he licked his lips. What had just happened? Why did his lips feel so hot?

"Wha--"

"That make it clear enough for you?"

"Y-You didn't have to demonstrate." His face felt warm and he turned to keep Yuri from seeing as he rubbed his face in agitation. Suddenly everything that had happened made sense, including the things Yuri had said while he was imprisoned. They had been passes at Flynn and he suddenly felt so uncomfortable that his body forced him to his feet once more. If Yuri was indeed telling the truth, he could at least take solace in the fact that he really wasn't a danger to Estellise's innocence.

Yuri shrugged again. "Sometimes a demonstration is the only way to make things clear. I figured you would have caught on ages ago. I wasn't very subtle back in Zaphias."

Oh gods, he was right. He ran a hand down his face in frustration and embarrassment. How could he have not realized after those cheesy one liners?

"Why did you--"

"It wasn't the first time I've used tactics like that to get myself out of a jam. Although that was the first time it didn't work."

He sighed, tugging a little at his blond hair. No matter how he paced or tried not to think about it, that tingling in his spine remained, settling in in a manner most discomforting. What was this strange feeling and why had it come over him? "I don't understand." He meant that in more than one way.

"It's nothing personal. Just doing what I needed to do."

That nearly set him off once more. What normal person needed to do things like that? What normal person thought nothing of the idea of doing that? "What kind of person does that?"

"Life's not always easy. Sometimes, you have to do what it takes to survive. Thought you would have gotten that by now. Some people get a bad hand in life." He leaned backward against a tree, folding his hands behind his head. "You should really get some sleep. I want to get a decent warm up out of you tomorrow."

He decided to do just that rather than let this man bait him into another argument. He laid back down, trying not to think about the rattling in his brain and the heaviness that was growing in his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: I hate writing fight scenes and this fic happens to have a lot of them. Go figure.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

Morning couldn't come soon enough. He was much more excited than he had expected over the idea of getting a challenge out of the blond knight who had asked him to fight the day before. He didn't want to underestimate an opponent, but at the same time, he had often watched Flynn's fighting style. It was slow and stiff and relied heavily on defense. That was typical of the knights he had seen and fought against before. He had endurance, though. He could see potential, but something was holding this knight back. He was strong, but something was missing.

It was late afternoon, maybe an hour before sunset when they stopped to make camp at the edge of a meadow before entering the forest once more. They were still two days at least from Dahngrest, and he listened to the the others chat while he prepared dinner with Karol's help. The cream stew would take some time to cook, and while he was fighting Flynn, he could trust Karol to keep an eye on it.

"When do we get to stop again? I'm sick of camping." Rita dropped the firewood she and Estelle had been collecting a few feet from the stew pot and sat down, rubbing her lower back in annoyance.

"Heliord is another day away at least."

"Stopping there is a bad idea."

"What do you mean?" Of course Flynn wanted to question him on that immediately.

"Heliord is crawling with knights. We're better off skipping it completely and just keep heading for Dahngrest." He stirred the pot a final time before standing and brushing himself off.

"But we're low on supplies as it is. We didn't get to stock up in Capua Torim."

"We'll have to make do. As long as we use things sparingly, we should be fine. And we can always cook what we find." Yuri stretched and picked up his sword. He looked over to Flynn. "Are you ready?"

Flynn nodded.

"Wait. What's going on?"

"Flynn wants to duel."

Estelle looked at him in surprised worry.

"It's true."

"Is this really a good idea? I mean, I know you're both strong, but this just seems ill advised."

"It'll be fine. I promise I won't beat him too badly."

The look that crossed Flynn's face was annoyed, but he said nothing. He started off with his sword and shield to a nice clear area in the meadow where they would be far enough from camp to not end up dashing through it, but close enough for them to watch. Yuri followed a few paces behind and when they found a suitable spot, he drew his sword, tossing the scabbard some distance away. He stretched and allowed the knight the opportunity to do the same. Even sitting up as lookout the night before and hiking and fighting monsters had done little to dampen Yuri's energy and enthusiasm. If nothing else, fighting only gave him more energy to fight. He could take down opponent after opponent and never tire. Not many people felt the same. It was a strange paradox, but he didn't question it. To Yuri, whose life was about fighting, it was a blessing.

He took his stance, sliding his right foot forward and his left back. He tossed his sword into the air catching it easily in his left hand and letting it spin momentarily. Maybe he was showing off a little, but he rarely had a chance to use the full extent of his ability, and he had no intentions of holding back here. If Flynn wanted a duel, Yuri was going to give him the fight of his life.

Flynn moved into a stance that was standard among the knights. It was stiff and relied too much on staying in one spot. Yuri's strength was in mobility and he would gladly show the knight how important that was.

"You ready?" He put on his cockiest smirk.

"Yes."

"Good."

Yuri charged, knowing that Flynn was unlikely to make the first move with his usual defensive strategy. He raised his sword to the level of his eye, crossing his sword arm over his body. He was careful not to tense his muscles as he moved forward, zipping across the field.

Flynn hunkered down behind his shield, his own sword low to counter Yuri's attack. As Yuri moved in, he saw this standard tactic and would use that to his advantage. Rather than try to avoid the shield, he aimed for it. He lunged and hit the metal shield with the full force of his blade, and as the knight was sent tumbling back, he moved behind him, shoving him forward with his shoulder. Flynn tried to recover, spinning to counter him and their blades met, sending sparks between them.

Yuri couldn't help but smirk. He was having fun.

The blond pressed forward against him, trying to pin in him place, but Yuri pulled back out of the parry, narrowly dodging the falling blade. He moved forward as Flynn fumbled for a step and punched him three times. Flynn recovered quickly, although winded, and took the offensive.

He swung left and right, but Yuri back flipped out of the way and countered with a stronger hit. He pulled back and then used another. Flynn caught the blade against a shield and struck at Yuri's exposed midsection. The sharpness of the blade scraped him enough to tear through his shirt and vest, and rend flesh. The warmth of the blood on his skin only drove him harder. It had been a while since someone had made him bleed.

Each step he made forward was one that Flynn had to take back. Yuri was a force to reckon with, and he let loose the bonds of moderation that he wore in all other fights. Even if the toughness of his current opponent was not level with his own, this was someone who could handle what Yuri could dish out. He struck out wildly, but never without purpose and the sharpness of his own blade was the same as his focus. He struck without hesitation and waited for Flynn to slip up, to give him an opening in his nearly impenetrable defense. His assault was brutal and relentless and finally his opening came.

Flynn gave him the tiniest opportunity, pausing for less than a second to draw a breath after using an arte. It was opportunity enough for him. With one hand, he pushed Flynn backward, giving him enough space to maneuver. Flynn didn't have a chance to react as Yuri dropped low, and swung his sword up.

He didn't let up. He spun once, twice, letting go of his sword mid air to make the most of his motions, using his fist and feet in places where he felt they were more appropriate. These movements threw Flynn only further off kilter and Yuri was relentless in his attack.

With one last slash, he threw the blond to the ground and crouched over him, holding the point of his sword against Flynn's chest.

* * *

 

As Flynn hit the ground and the dark haired guildsman crouched over him, he knew that he had been bested. He let go of his sword and surrendered. After a moment and a satisfied smile, Yuri stood and reached down for him.

"You're pretty good."

It sounded sarcastic, but Flynn knew that it was a compliment, especially coming from someone who seemed years beyond his own skill level. He could see in that moment, every incorrect move he had made and every place that he had slipped up. Their skill sets were so far apart that Flynn felt as though any particular skill he may have exhibited paled in comparison.

Yuri was amazing. His brilliant ferocity in the midst of battle was awe inspiring, and as those glittering charcoal eyes stared down at him beyond the hand extended, the tingling returned. Why did it only start when he was looking at the guildsman?

"T-Thanks." He took the guildsman's hand and Yuri helped pull him up.

"Your fighting's not bad, but you're missing a few things." He started back toward camp and Flynn followed along on numb and fumbling feet.

"What do you mean?"

"I understand that defense is important to your style, but at the same time, you're stiff and inflexible. Your focus is sharp, but too narrow. A group of opponents could easily throw you off guard." He sheathed his sword and cleaned himself up in a bucket of water that Karol had brought up earlier from a nearby stream. "You need to move around. You're keeping yourself stuck in one spot and that's not an advantage in most fights."

"I see."

"If you're going to be facing an opponent like Zagi again, you're really going to have to step it up. At your current level, you won't stand a chance against a crazy fuck like him."

"I'd like to fight you again sometime after I've improved. If that's all right." He was finally able to see what Yuri fought like when he wasn't holding back. It was an awesome sight and a level to which Flynn could aspire to. _I can admire this person for his strength and still disagree with him, right?_

"Sure thing, but I want more of a challenge next time. Hurry up and catch up with me."

Yuri finished cooking dinner, and they ate around the campfire, chatting and sharing stories and all the while, he felt better, like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He was hungry and not angry for the first time in a while. He still had far to go to be as good a fighter as Yuri, but it was something that he could focus on.

Flynn caught himself stealing glances throughout the meal and the pleasant conversation that followed at the man whose fierceness had bested him. When he laid down, for the first night since his father's death, he got a good night's sleep.

* * *

 

He made sure they went well out of their way to avoid Heliord, even though their supplies were running low and it would have sped along their trip. He had lived off the land before and had taught Karol as well, and had no problem showing the other unlikely members of his party.

"How do you know so much about these plants, Yuri?"

"I had to take care of myself as a kid. I learned pretty quick what things are edible and what'll make you sick." It had been a painful learning experience, but an important one that he would never forget. He pulled aside the limb of a shrub, revealing a wealth of red berries hidden in its foliage. "Only the red ones are safe. The purple ones are decoys that the plant makes to keep animals from eating it. They're not strong enough to kill you, but they'll give you one hell of a stomachache.”

"What about these?" Rita pointed to a patch of frilly yellow and red flowers. "Some flowers are edible, right?"

"The leaves and roots are okay, but the flower itself isn't safe."

"Wow." Estelle the info-vore had been taking notes on nearly everything he said on the subject. "Even pretty things can be dangerous." She picked one of the berries and put it in her mouth in a ladylike fashion. She took a moment to appreciate its flavor and cracked a smile.

"Pretty good, huh?"

"They're delicious!" She picked a few more and skipped over to the mage, who had begun poking around some mushrooms, making sure that her great displeasure over the whole affair was well known. "Rita, try some of these. They're really good."

Rita shifted back onto her heels, and blushingly took a few of the berries from the perky princess. She ate and mumbled something under her breath before going back to her work. Estelle then moved on to Flynn, who had been loafing behind them. Yuri could have sworn that the blond had been shooting him warning glares all day as Estelle had nearly been glued to Yuri's side, ready and willing to learn anything and everything that he would teach her. Had his very clear show that he had no romantic interest in the princess, or any other woman for that matter, not gotten through his thick skull? Yuri wasn't intimidated by these glances and continued about his teaching as if nothing was happening.

"How much further until we reach Dahngrest?" Flynn eventually joined the rest of them in their gathering.

Yuri looked up at the sky. It was already late afternoon, and they still had some ways to go. "If we keep up a good pace, we should make it there tomorrow afternoon."

"Should we go ahead and make camp here and get an early start?"

"We should get a few more miles in if possible. The further we get tonight the less we'll have to go tomorrow." He turned over to Rita and Estelle, who had since been joined by Karol, who had been gathering some local fruit. "Come on, you guys. We should keep moving."

Karol rushed over to join himself and Flynn, and showed off his bag full of apples. Yuri praised him, ruffling the boy's brown hair affectionately the way he often did. He tried to be a good older brother figure to Karol, although sometimes it was harder than others, and things did occasionally get in the way. He did his best to teach him what the world was really like, but at the same time protect him from the harshness that Yuri had known.

Rita and Estelle joined them after a moment and they continued walking until just before sunset. They had put several more miles between them and Heliord, which he was grateful for.

He had not been completely honest with them on the status of the city. When he said that it had been crawling with knights, it was an understatement. What had once been a rising city had been turned into a full on military base. Citizens no longer remained there, and if a guild member was caught anywhere near there, they were immediately arrested and stood trial as a traitor to the Empire. The number of bodies that hung from the gallows there served as a warning. Joining the Union was an act of treason against a empty throned empire run by the madman Commandant.

Flynn built a fire and Karol and Repede returned from a nearby river a little while later with a few large fish for their dinner. Yuri cleaned them and showed Estelle how to cook them. It wasn't too long after dinner that they settled in to sleep, but Yuri found himself restless. He was ready to be in Dahngrest already. He had a lot to do when they got there, including having Raven look into that crooked magistrate and his whereabouts. Just thinking about Ragou made his muscles ache for a fight.

"You can't sleep either?" Estelle sat down beside him, where he had been poking at the dim fire.

"Not really." He over at her to see her fidgeting with her blastia. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just a little worried."

"About what?"

"Everything. I mean, we're almost to Dahngrest and we still don't know exactly what we're going to do. We don't know if Don Whitehorse will even listen to what we have to say. And I know Flynn's really trying, but I'm just not sure about his plan."

"What do you want to do?"

Her green eyes shot up at him in surprise. "What?"

"What do you want to do?"

Her face grew determined. "I want to help Ioder and find out what Alexei is doing."

"Okay. How are you planning on doing that?"

"I want to ask Don Whitehorse, but I'm afraid that he won't listen. There's not really anybody within the Empire I can ask because it seems like they've all sided with Alexei. What do you think I should do?"

"You should do what you think is right. If you think talking to the Don will help, then you should go for it."

Estelle scowled a little, looking down at her hands. Obviously, she had been expecting a definitive answer that Yuri had no intention of giving her. The little princess needed to learn to make decisions for herself, instead of having someone else do it for her.

"Just do what you want to do. I'll do what I can to help."

"Thank you. And once again, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I still don't have an answer for you."

"You still have tomorrow to think about it." From the tone of her voice, he could tell that she had been wracking her brain for the object of compromise for his help.

She nodded. "You've done so much for us. You helped us get out of Zaphias and we wouldn't have gotten this far without your help, too. You saved Flynn from drowning and got everyone safely to shore after the shipwreck. I don't know if anything I offer you can repay that."

"All that's up to you." He shrugged, and reached in to turn over a charred log in the fire. There was silence between them for a few moments, broken only by the crackling of the wood in the flames.

"I know the circumstances of this journey have been less than ideal, and we've been through rough patches, but I'm glad to have had these experiences."

"Nothing like living in the palace, I suppose."

"Not at all. The palace seems so dull now that I've experienced the world outside. I've learned so much since we've begun traveling that I never would have otherwise."

"So, you've never been out of the palace?"

"Oh no. I always believed that the world was too dangerous. That's why they kept me there. I've always lived there, and I'd always been too busy to think about what the world outside could be like outside of my books."

"Busy?" It was hard for him to imagine a girl who lived in the lap of luxury as busy.

"Yes. Whenever someone in the palace gets sick, I heal them. I'm the palace healer after all."

It didn't take him long to put the pieces together, and it brought his anger up fresh, although this was much more contained than previously. She wasn't just some princess, idling her days away. They kept her there, she said as much herself. She had been a prisoner, a bird in a gilded cage, used for her ability to heal the sick and injured when it was convenient. It was likely that she hadn't even realized it. He longed for his freedom. She had never known any.

"Were you happy there?"

"I was content."

"But were you happy?"

She thought for a moment before replying. "I'm not sure. But either way, I'm glad that we met. I've had a lot of fun just being with everyone."

"I'm glad." Yuri leaned back against, Repede, making the dog his pillow once more. He supposed that if she wasn't angry about it, he didn't have much right to be. Maybe she had seen it for what it was, but had merely chosen to see it in another light.

"What do you want, Yuri?"

"Hm?"

"What's the one thing you want to do in this world?" A bit arbitrary, but he answered nonetheless.

"I don't know." That was a lie. "Change it." That was the truth. "Why do you ask?"

"I just get this feeling from you. You're not happy with the ways things are, and from what I've seen on our brief journey, I'm not either. I don't want people to suffer and I can tell that you don't either."

"Hey, don't go over analyzing me or anything. I just happen to be in the right place at the right time."

Estelle chuckled briefly, and then turned somber again. "I want to make sure that people like Ragou, who commit atrocities like that, are punished by the law for their crimes."

"Don't worry." He shifted one of his legs on top of the other, waving his foot in the air. "He'll get what's coming to him. People like that always do." At least they did if Yuri had anything to do with it. More often than not, Yuri made it his business. "You should really get some sleep. We've still got a pretty long way to go tomorrow before we get to Dahngrest."

"I'm too excited to finally get there, but you're right." She got up reluctantly, adjusting her skirts behind her. "I'm really glad we met, Yuri. And as much as Flynn may be dedicated to the rules and sometimes unwilling to compromise, I think that he's glad, too."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because lately it seems like he's a whole different person around you. I've never seen him act like this."

"Hm." That was pretty interesting.

"Well, good night, Yuri."

He watched as she tiptoed quietly across the camp and back to her sleeping bag positioned next to Rita's. She nestled down and tossed and turned for a while before finally drifting off. By that time, Yuri had long since moved his gaze upward to Brave Vesperia. He sighed and stretched and laid flat on the cool ground for a while, watching the night sky. "I wonder what Gramps is going to think about all this.”

Repede wuffed softly.

"Yeah. I guess so."


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: This and the chapter following are probably my favorites of the pre-half way chapters.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

"Are you all right, Flynn?" Estellise knelt by him as he stopped to fill his canteen. It was the third time that day and it was still before noon.

He had been drinking a lot of water, but none of it seemed to be satisfying his thirst. The contents of canteen after canteen disappeared down his throat, but did nothing to relieve the dryness in his mouth. He wouldn't tell her that he was fearing heat exhaustion and dehydration, but he wasn't experiencing the cramps that came with both. He was occasionally dizzy, but always thirsty, but nothing else seemed wrong. Still, he was cautious. "I'm fine, Lady Estellise."

"Can we take a break, Yuri?"

"I suppose a short one won't hurt. We're not too far now."

The sound of the guildsman's voice only increased his symptoms and he could feel the barest bits of a headache forming. He drank his canteen before filling it again. The cool stream didn't help still, only proved to make his stomach feel heavy and bloated.

Could his stomach have merely been nervous about meeting with the leader of the Empire's enemy in order to ask for help? Was he having second thoughts about his already less than perfect plan? Could it be as simple as he was coming down sick from all the stress of their journey? Either way, he didn't like it or how each glance he found himself stealing at the dark haired Yuri only caused the symptoms to worsen once more. Had he done something to Flynn? Everyone else was in sound health and it would have been nearly impossible to poison Flynn's food. He refilled his own canteen and Yuri had no access to it. What was it? How was he causing this?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuri kneel by the stream to fill his own canteen, as well as those of Karol and Repede, and it sent his head spinning again. Yuri lowered his strong, slender, pale hands into the water to wash them and then splashed a little on this own face and that horrible tingling in Flynn's spine returned.

Flynn was grateful when the guildsman stood and walked away, returned Karol's canteen and then Repede's. Flynn stared at the water for some time after that before Estellise came to get him for an early lunch. He wasn't hungry, but he ate the light meal that she and Rita prepared. Yuri assured them that he would make something more substantial when they arrived in Dahngrest and he could cook for them in a proper kitchen.

As they continued on the road, he could see the twilight city of Dahngrest, huge and sprawling, built on bridges and supports on the meeting of landmasses.

The guild city was very little like what he had expected. The sky spoke of an eternal twilight, even though it was still early afternoon and the ring of the morning star shaped blastia hung in the sky as they did in all other cities. The streets were surprisingly clean, in spite of the several battered and burnt out houses along the outskirts of the city. The class distinction that was so obvious in Zaphias, was less so here. There were no walls separating one class from other. The atmosphere here was different from the capital as well. It was loud and busy and lively. He could hear the shouts of peddlers pushing their wares in the bustling market nearby, and the clink of swords and armor rang through the streets.

There were a few uniformed guards, bearing the symbol of the Union. They waved Yuri, Repede and Karol through, although they cast their eyes in suspicion over the others.

"They're with me."

"If you say so."

They crossed the bridge into the city and Yuri stopped right before they got completely across, turning to them with a broad smirk plastered across his face. "Welcome to Dahngrest."

Estellise was almost immediately marveled by the architecture, spouting off facts from the wealth of books she had read.

"Don't worry," he chuckled. "I'll take you on a tour of the city later."

"Yes." Flynn spoke up for the first time almost all day. "I'd like to see Don Whitehorse as soon as possible.”

"We can head up to Union Headquarters now, but there's no guarantee he'll be ready to talk to you. He's probably in court this time of day."

"Court?"

"Yeah. You have the Imperial Council, we have the Union, who oversees trials."

They chatted on further as Yuri led them through the town, but Flynn wasn't listening. He kept a careful eye on the surroundings. It had been almost too easy for them to get in. With the Union and the Empire in a state of war, he had expected at least some resistance, but at Yuri's slightest word, they were let in like it was nothing. The signs of war were in this town, but it seemed almost more severe than the towns they had been in previously. The buildings along the edges of town were burnt out and hollow and the inner buildings were damaged only slightly less severely. And yet it was plain to see that many were under repair. People were actively working on rebuilding and fixing these structures. In spite of his suspicion, he did not feel as ill at ease as he expected to once in the territory of the enemy.

They finally approached a huge building made of dark red and brown bricks. Outside, there were several guards, who seemed to pay them little mind, and a slovenly, middle aged man with ash brown hair and sun weathered skin. He was loafing around by the wall, dressed in bright purples and yellow. He dashed over as soon as he spotted them. Flynn noted how Karol's eyes lit up.

"Hey there, kids!"

"Hey, Old Man."

"Raven!"

He immediately looked around Yuri and Karol to catch a better look at Estellise and Rita, a wolfish grin playing across his lips. "Yowza. When did ya pick up such lovely young lasses?"

Yuri sighed. "Don't start."

"Hello. My name is Estelle. You must be Yuri's grandfather."

The man retracted in shock at that statement and Yuri nearly doubled over laughing. "Ya gone and hurt this old man's feelin's! I'm hardly old enough to be the boy's father."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She bowed.

"And you are...?"

Rita huffed at him. "Rita. Keep your hands to yourself, you old perv."

He seemed less offended by that. "Name's Raven. I'm a friend of the kids."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Raven."

He twirled around on one foot, folding his hands behind his head. "So, what brings you to the Union HQ?"

"They want to meet with the Don."

He spun back, taken aback once more. "You know the Don doesn't meet with just anyone. And he's in session right now."

"I'm sure he'll want to hear what they have to say."

Raven eyed Yuri and then nodded. "All right. I'll escort you in."

The guards let them in with no issues and Raven walked at the head of the group beside Yuri. He ran a hand across Yuri's shoulders with a familiarity that made Flynn feel somewhat uncomfortable. They spoke quietly between themselves, even as Karol jogged up to walk beside them, and got his brown hair ruffled by the scruffy man.

A long hall and a short set of stairs brought them to a large door decorated with the symbols of the five Master Guilds that made up the Union. Altosk, Soul Smiths, Blood Alliance, Fortune's Market, and Ruin's Gate. Raven turned to them, his hand on the door, and a finger pressed to his lips, signaling them to stay quiet for the time being. When everyone returned the gesture with a nod, he opened the door and ushered them in.

The Union's meeting room was long and wide, decorated with red and gold banners with the same symbols as on the door. Two long rows of cushioned seats lined the walls, and seated there were a large number of guild members. At the very head of the room was a huge man, towering head and shoulders over everyone else, with long white hair and a beard. His broad face and chest were marked with long, red tattoos and Flynn knew the man in an instant. This had to have been the notorious Don Whitehorse.

They took a spot at the back of the room by the wall and Yuri indicated that they would wait until the session was over to approach the Don in privacy. So they watched and waited.

"Next case." A guard beside the Don spoke and a young man in shackles was brought forth, followed by an elderly man.

"State your case."

The old man spoke first. "This boy vandalized my shop! Twice he has thrown rocks through my windows and splashed paint on my doors! This second time I caught him in the act. Windows are expensive and with the profits of my shop, I can only keep my family fed."

The room was silent as the Don opened his mouth to speak, turning to the shackled man. His voice was not as loud as one would expect, but gravelly. He spoke with the slightest of Tolbyccian accents, dropping his r's every so often and his language mostly informal. Even with that, he spoke like an educated man. "You were caught in the act. What do you have to say for yerself?"

The man remained silent, his head lowered in shame.

"I'll take that as a guilty plea." The Don ran a large hand down his chin and stroked his beard. "All right. To pay yer debt, yer going ta work for this man until you've made enough to replace his windows and yer gonna make him a new door."

"Yes, Sir."

"And if I hear that yer giving him any trouble, so help me, you'll be spending the rest of yer sentence in jail."

"Thank you, Don." The elderly man bowed, and the guard showed them out.

"Court's adjourned."

With that, many of the people filed out of the room and after a moment, the only people that remained were two more guards behind the Don and a blond young man standing behind the seat of power, a long, red tattoo across his nose. Raven slipped away from them and trotted on ahead, leaning over Don Whitehorse and whispering to him. A broad grin played across his face. He waved a hand at them, motioning for them to approach and he leaned back a little in his chair.

Yuri strode up first, confident and unafraid in the presence of the man who was both the leader of his guild and the leader of the city-state of Dahngrest. That confidence astounded Flynn. He stopped on a firm heel a few feet in front of the seat of power.

"Surprised to see you back so soon, lad."

"Hey, Gramps."


	13. Chapter 13

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

From the gasp that rang in his ears, there was no doubt that the knight and the princess behind him were stunned. He had revealed some of his cards, but he still had tricks hidden up his sleeves. He had learned gambling from some of the best.

"Yuri, then your grandfather is--"

"Looks like you've assembled yerself a motley crew here. What brings you back to Dahngrest?"

"These two would like to talk to you. It's pretty important."

The Don eyed Flynn and Estelle for a moment before speaking. "And who are yer friends here?"

Yuri took a step forward and moved to one side, so that he could get a better look at the shocked looks Flynn and Estelle still wore. "This is Estelle. She's with me. He's Flynn. He's a Royal Guard."

The Union guards sprung into action just like he had expected, halberds pointed at the blond. Although shocked, Flynn didn't budge. He must have known that it would look bad if he tried to bolt. Yuri had to admit he was pretty impressed. Flynn must have been more dedicated to his foolish plan than Yuri had expected. He stood stalwart beside Estelle, ready to protect her at a moment's notice if it came to it. He glared over at Yuri, but said nothing.

"He's come to talk. He's no threat to the Union."

"I'm not sure I wanna listen to what an Imperial has to say."

He had expected that, but so had Flynn. "Please, Don Whitehorse, I come with the utmost urgency. I fear that both the Empire and the Union are in grave danger--"

The huge man stood, anger plain on his face. "I'm in no mood to listen to you right now." With the recent tensions between the Empire and the Union, his rage should have come as no surprise. The war had been wearing on both parties.

"But, Sir!"

Estelle moved to step forward, but Yuri motioned for her not to. She stopped, although a bit reluctantly. She must have known that acting rashly here would be bad.

"Take this Imperial into custody for now. Maybe I'll hear him out later." Yuri knew that would take some talking to the Don on his part, but he didn't mind. The gruff old man would listen to him.

The guards moved forward and had Flynn in shackles with speed and efficiency that would shame the Imperial Knights. The blond didn't struggle and was drug away without incident. He glared back at Yuri one final time, his blue eyes bright as fire. No doubt Yuri was going get an earful for this and likely another round of fist fighting between them. Not that he minded either. Flynn was able to get reactions out of him like no one else, and vice versa it seemed.

"Whadderya thinking, lad? Bringing a Royal Guard here?" The Don sat back down in his chair.

"It's a matter of importance, but it can wait."

Don Whitehorse said nothing further for a long moment, only analyzing them closely. When he spoke again, his temper seemed to have cooled. "We'll see about that later. In the meantime, Raven here says you got some information for me."

"Give me a minute."

The Don nodded, and leaned over to talk quietly to Raven.

Yuri turned to the others. Estelle was looking at him in anger and concern, obviously over Flynn, and Karol and Rita seemed only partially interested in the proceedings. "Karol, go on ahead and take Estelle and Rita to my place. I'll be by a little later."

"Yuri, what about Flynn? We can't just leave him like this."

"I'll take care of it. Trust me."

She pouted a little, but nodded, and Karol led the two girls away.

Once they were safely out of range, Yuri spoke. He explained what had happened in Zaphias, and the events that had followed until he came to their brief and tumultuous time in Capua Nor. The Don stopped him.

"What did ya say?"

"Barbos is up to something. He's working along side a crooked imperial magistrate. On top of that, Zagi's working for him and Alexei. They have to be connected. There's no way that all this is a coincidence." He reached into his shirt, pulling out a bag the size of the palm of his hand and passed it over. "I found this aboard Barbos's ship."

Don Whitehorse took the bag, opening it a little to view its contents. Half a dozen blastia cores shined up at him from within the leather bag. "Some of the cores that've been stolen. So you think he's connected to our thief, too?"

"That's my best guess. Which means that that trail could lead back to Alexei as well."

The Don stroked his beard a moment. "All right. I'll hear the boy and girl out. I'm not making any promises, though."

"Of course."

"Bring 'em by the office around midnight."

"Mind if I bust our guest out?"

"I'm pretty sure he's got the idea that we don't play around here in Dahngrest. Go ahead and release him, but he's your responsibility."

"He's prejudiced, but he's too much of a stuffed shirt to do anything. I'll keep my eye on him though. Thanks, Gramps." Yuri turned and left the meeting hall. As he entered the main foyer, he turned to a door on the right hand side of the hall. The guard there let him pass, and he took the long set of stairs that followed down into the Union dungeon. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, in front of the guard desk. "I'm here for the prisoner. Don's orders."

The guard relinquished the key and Yuri sent the man on break. After the door above was closed behind him, he moved to the second cell in the row.

Flynn leaned against the wall, his left arm perched on his raised knee, staring out the tiny window in the back of the room. He didn't look at Yuri, but had obviously heard him approach. The fingers of his right hand tightened in anger and he swallowed hard to hold that rage back.

"Pretty sobering to get to see the world from the other side, huh?"

He remained silent, although the words of argument had to have been ready on his tongue.

Yuri leaned against the cell door, jutting his hips backward, and twirling the key on his index finger. "Ready to keep me warm now?"

"You are the last person I want to see right now." His face reddened a little.

"Funny. I should be the first person."

"What do you want?"

Oh, the answers he could think of that he kept to himself. "I've come to let you out. Gramps decided to listen to what you've got to say." He unlocked the door and let it swing open.

The blond stood slowly and walked out. As soon as Yuri shut the door behind him, Flynn grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, shoving him against the bars. He could have fought back, but he did not, only thinking that if the blond liked playing rough, Yuri would certainly oblige him.

"Where is Lady Estellise?!"

"She's fine. She and Rita are safe at my place."

Flynn pulled him back a little and shoved him once more, making sure the the bars dug into his back. Yuri had been in positions far worse than this.

"If you'd rather stay here, I can arrange that."

After a deep breath to calm himself, the knight released him and put a few steps distance between them. "Let's go."

* * *

Flynn was so unspeakably angry as he followed the dark haired guildsman back through the city of Dahngrest. His mouth was even drier than before and his head hurt worse, but he chalked that up to his boiling rage. They followed the main road to where it forked in the town square, and headed to the left. Down the left path, they came to a large tavern with a sign above it that read 'Sagittarius'. They took an alleyway around behind the building to a long set of stairs that led to a second floor. Yuri led Flynn up the stairs and into the apartment.

Estellise and Rita were there, reading a book on the sofa in the main room, while Karol was rummaging around in the kitchen. As soon as they entered, Estellise popped off the sofa like a cork, and was over checking on him in a flash.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Lady Estellise."

Yuri got swatted on the arm for what he had done, but that hardly seemed punishment enough, even as she started to complain. "I can't believe you, Yuri!"

"It was best that we got all that out in the open, but I do have good news."

"What?"

"Gramps has agreed to meet with you two later tonight to hear your side of the story. In the meantime, why don't we grab some dinner downstairs?"

Flynn didn't have much to say, but dinner was agreed upon and the party moved to the tavern downstairs. A Krityan waitress showed them to a table off to one side of the room and brought them a round of ale for Yuri and Flynn, and juice for Estellise, Rita, and Karol. Yuri threw back his head and downed his ale and the waitress brought him another before moving off to a table in the back.

"I'm so glad the Don agreed to hear us out." Estellise sighed a little with relief.

"There's still no guarantee that he'll want to help."

"It's still worth a try. I won't give up."

He was surprised by her sudden boldness. When had Estellise become so determined? It was much different than what he had witnessed of her in the palace of Zaphias these past few years, and yet, he didn't mind. It was nice, but he couldn't help but feel like it had something to do with Yuri.

After a little while, the waitress returned with a feast of food: exotic fruits, roasted meats, fresh vegetables, and warm, freshly baked breads. They were surely being treated specially because of the presence of the dark haired guildsman.

"So Don Whitehorse is your grandfather?"

"Yeah. He adopted me when I was ten."

"Why did you hide it from us?" Rita asked, finishing off a slice of buttered bread.

"I didn't hide it. I just didn't tell you."

"Why?"

"It wasn't all that important. Would it really have changed things?"

It was important. If Flynn had known that his prisoner was a very important member of the most powerful guild in Dahngrest, and the adopted grandson of that same guild's leader, he could have planned all of this so much better. Ransoming was still very much out of the question, but he could have asked Yuri for help and tried to be more compromising rather than just ordering the guildsman around. Estellise had been right to try and work with Yuri. And now, Flynn felt like a huge idiot. He also could have anticipated being outed in front of the Don as revenge and then arrested on the spot. Knowing that would have changed a lot.

Yuri downed another ale and a bowl of miso soup. The waitress returned once more to refill his drink and top off Flynn's, which he had hardly touched.

"Hey, kids." Raven approached the table in his slumping walk. "Mind if I join ya?"

"Don't you have work to be doing, Old Man?"

"This old man just wants some dinner."

Karol pulled over another chair to allow Raven to sit next to him and received an affectionate pat on the back as Raven sat down. He rattled off about some of the monsters they had faced to this point and their long trip from Halure and the scruffy man smiled and praised him a little in much the same way Yuri did. Yuri broke in once or twice to enhance the feel of the tale, smiling and looking much more comfortable than Flynn had ever seen him be before this point. He must have known that he was safe here. Even if he was a prisoner of Flynn's, here in Dahngrest, he was a free man and a powerful one. He could easily be rid of the problem of being a captured spy if he felt like it.

"How about after this, we hit the bathhouse?"

"What?"

"Oh, I guess you don't have a lot of public baths in Zaphais. Here in Dahngrest, we have public bathhouses instead of private ones."

"Tends to save on water. And it's a great way to let go of ones... /inhibitions/," Raven said in a sultry voice, eyeing Estellise in a most improper way.

She blushed, fumbling with her juice.

Yuri smacked Raven in the back of the head. "Cut it out. The men and women's baths are separate mostly because of people like you."

"Yer no fun. The baths being segregated doesn't effect /you/." Raven was surely referencing Yuri's apparent preference for the company of men.

Yuri shrugged.

Flynn instantly found himself feeling uncomfortable again, remembering the kiss from a few nights prior. His mouth felt desert dry once more and he tried to quench it with his ale. It didn't help much. He shifted in his seat and grabbed a few slices of peeled orange to keep his fumbling hands and parched mouth busy. He hated feeling like this and he wasn't sure why it kept recurring.

A ruckus in the back of the room started suddenly, only interrupted by a soft, feminine voice saying, "Pardon, but are you accusing me of cheating?"

Yuri looked over just in time to see a burly man flip a table in the very back corner of the room and and lunge for a scantily clad Krityan woman. She dodged him with minimal effort. In spite of her voluptuous and feminine frame, she grabbed him by the back of his breastplate with amazing strength and flung him across the bar. Another of the men went after her, and suddenly the whole bar was in the frenzy of the fight.

The dark haired guildsman whirled out of his chair with the speed that Flynn knew from battle, knocking aside a man with his feet that was coming toward them with a chair raised high above his head. He charged ahead, easily downing the surliest and biggest of opponents as if they were merely flies, and taunting others as they turned their aggression from the Krityan woman to him. Flynn tried to ignore the fight. He tried to just keep eating, but found his eyes fixed once again of the battle prowess of Yuri that had been continually capturing his attention.

It caught his attention so much that he didn't see one of the bar patrons coming at him until a huge fist connected with his face. He tumbled backward onto the floor, and pulled himself up quickly, adrenaline pumping like fire in his veins. He hit the man who had attacked him first, knocking him into a neighboring table that flipped over on top of him.

Flynn may not have been the strongest of fighters, but he could hold his own in a bar fight when it came down to it. After all, this wasn't his first.

A glass flew by his head, but he dodged it, spinning. He bumped into someone who whipped around as quickly as he did. It was Yuri, smirking as broadly as he had ever seen, and dodging an attempted attack from behind. With his head, he motioned to Flynn, who stomped on the foot of another attacking patron.

"You're not bad, for a dog of the Empire."

He didn't have time to freeze from that this time, but instead, he knew in an instant where he had heard it and why that voice was so familiar. It did nothing to sate his anger.

Yuri spun, taking down the last of the still standing fighters, and watching as he fell into a heap on the ground. "That serves you right for starting a brawl." He cracked his knuckles and stood triumphant.

Flynn didn't have time to think as the lovely Krityan woman approached them. "Thank you," she said, pushing a bit of her lavender hair behind one of her pointed ears.

"No prob, Judy."

She punched him gently in the shoulder, which he gladly returned. "Who's your handsome friend here?"

"This is Flynn."

"Flynn Scifo, ma'am."

"Judith."

He wasn't sure why he found himself half worried that the lovely Krityan wasn't a little more than friends with Yuri, given the way their eyes met and seemed to glitter mischievously and the familiarity of their touches. But then he remembered what Yuri had told him and the kiss once more and he felt the tiniest bit relieved for a reason that he didn't quite understand.

"What have you been up to?"

"Oh, just the usual." She folded her hands behind her back and smiled a little as she rocked back on one of her spiked heels. "I'd really love to stay and chat, but I have to get going."

"See you around then, Judy." He watched thoughtfully as the Krityan left, and then turned back to the now waking starters of the fight. He pulled the burly man up. "Now, you and your buddies are going to get this place cleaned up."

The man didn't argue, scrambling to his feet, and immediately began straightening tables and chairs and picking up flatware and silverware from off the floor.

Yuri returned to the meal like nothing had happened, but Flynn was stuck. He knew Yuri. He had met him before this and it had taken a bar fight to bring that memory fresh to his mind after everything that had been happening. They had fought in a bar fight once before, many miles from the town of Dahngrest, and years before this war. Why had it taken him this long to figure it out?

He wanted to confront the man now about a place where they had both been before, but the guildsman had settled easily back into his seat and was chatting with the others while snacking away on the remains of the feast. He would wait until they had a moment alone.

The waitresses came and thanked Yuri when the bar was cleaned up and the problematic patrons had gone drunkenly home and then gathered up the empty dishes. He left the money for their meal and what seemed like a sizable tip before ushering them all out and further down the street. Raven made his exit here, slipping away into the night.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Notes: If you watched First Strike, some the events from last chapter may have seemed familiar. The First Strike connection to this fic will be explained a few more chapters down the road.

* * *

 

With full bellies, they wandered through the city streets lit by blastia lamps to a building over one of the city's many bridges. It had curtains for doors, and wisps of steam could be seen flowing from the open windows. It was short in comparison to the other buildings, split in level where many others were two and three full stories. The banner hanging outside indicated that it was run by a guild. Outside, a few people in robes stood, handing out pamphlets to passersby.

One of the ladies greeted them cordially and pulled open the curtain door. Steam hit them in the face, and Flynn instantly found himself sweating.

Yuri conversed for a moment with the man running the front counter, and then handed a wooden token off to each Rita and Estellise. "We'll meet you back here in about half an hour, okay?"

"Okay." Estellise slipped her hand into Rita's, an excited smile lighting up her face. "Let's go, Rita."

The mage fumbled for words and was dragged off down the hall before she could manage to speak.

The guildsman gave each of them similar wooden tokens as well, and led the way down an opposite hall through the very warm building. It was a brief walk for them to enter a changing room, where Yuri wasted no time in undressing. Karol was doing the same, tossing his clothing beside Yuri's on a long, wooden bench.

Flynn felt uneasy once more and all of his clothing uncomfortably hot and tight, so he followed suit, even if a bit slowly and shakily. He wrapped a towel around his waist and folded his clothing neatly, setting it beside the others. Before he realized it, he was alone, and Karol and Yuri had marched off into the adjoining bath without him. He followed the steps they left behind into the steamy, cypress paneled room, washed off quickly at one of the side showers where Yuri and Karol were just finishing up, and slid into the bath.

"There's nothing like a nice hot bath after a long time out on the road." Yuri stretched and sunk against the stone interior of the bath a little.

"Yeah. It's great,” Karol replied.

It was relaxing, as much as he hated to admit it. He could feel his travel weary and aching muscles being soothed by the hot water. He didn't want to relax. He wanted to be talking with the Don about possible solutions to their problem and where to go from here, but this time would allow him a chance to clear his muddled head and think things through before he made a fatal error. He leaned back in the water, closing his eyes. His peace was quickly shattered when he was splashed in the face with some of the water while Yuri and Karol started horsing around on the other side of the tub.

Flynn glared over at them, but only received another splash to the face from Yuri for his trouble. Apparently the man's itch for the fight hadn't been satisfied with a simple bar brawl. Flynn held his temper and didn't retaliate as Yuri and Karol continued their splash fight. Eventually, the waves they were making in the bath proved a little relaxing on their own.

His eyes and limbs felt so heavy. Briefly, he fought off the idea of sleeping in the bath, but surely a little nap couldn't hurt.

"Come on, Flynn. Half hour's up."

He jolted up, wide awake, and scrambled out of the bath behind the exiting Yuri and Karol. As he entered the changing room, he was able to get a good, although completely unwarranted, look at the bare guildsman. His pale skin was flushed from the heat of the bath water, revealing numerous silvery scars across his back and down his arms and legs. He recognized many of the scars for what they were and what had made them. Whips, ropes, daggers, and other such tools of torture, and not of battle. Even with so many scars marring that glistening skin with his wet, dark hair plastered to it, he still found that form somewhat admirable. It was long and lean but with muscles that showed years of hard work and training. The sensation in his spine returned worse than before.

"What?"

He lifted his eyes quickly, looking around. Yuri had caught him in the act of spying on him as it were. "N-Nothing. Just looking at your scars." Sure. That's what he had been doing, although the stammering in his statement did little to convince either of them.

"Oh. I guess I do have a lot of them." Yuri ran one slender hand down his arm, across a myriad of scars.

"Yuri's scars are battle trophies!" The boy was already dressed and sitting on the bench, swinging his legs waiting for the two of them.

The smile the dark haired man gave Karol was halfhearted at best but the child saw it as genuine. "Yup. That's right." Yuri knew that most of those marks were not from fighting.

"It just proves how great a fighter Yuri is!"

"How about you run off and find the girls? We'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Okay!" He rushed from the room, back down the hall that they had come down initially. "Go ahead and say it."

"Say what?"

Yuri pulled on his shirt, staring over at him. "What you really think."

"Those scars aren't from battle. They're--"

"Let him stay in the dark for now. He doesn't need to know just how harsh the world really is yet." He donned his black vest and tied his belt at the small of his back.

There was a heavy quiet between them as Flynn finished dressing. Flynn wanted to talk to Yuri about the place where they had met before all this, and the circumstances that had taken them both there. He felt so stupid for not realizing it earlier and wondered if Yuri had known all along. The guildsman was sharp, sharper than he would let on. He seemed to be constantly observing everything, including the others in the group. Was that his purpose all those years ago, too?

"What's taking you?"

Flynn hadn't realized the buttons of his white shirt were so cumbersome while he was lost in thought once more about the dark haired Yuri. Warmth crept up his neck and he finished the buttons off quickly. "Sorry."

Yuri waved a hand at him. "Best not to keep Gramps waiting."

"Right."

He followed Yuri out of the room and they met with Estellise, Rita, and Karol at the front desk before making their way back to the Sagittarius.

"What are we doing back here?" Estellise asked.

"Gramps' office is here. Do you still want to talk to him?"

"Yes."

"Let's go then." He took them inside once more. It was substantially quieter now than it had been. Many of the patrons must have crawled home by this late at night, and the waitstaff was cleaning off tables and mopping the floor. He led them to a door on the right hand side of the room, close to the table where they had sat earlier. Flynn hadn't noticed this door before or the symbol of Altosk engraved on its surface. He didn't have much time to think about it as Yuri knocked and received a reply to enter.

He opened the door and let them into a long office that would have rivaled that of the Commandant, furnished with tapestries bearing the crests of Altosk and Dahngrest in red and gold hanging against the walls, two long, cushioned red couches with a dark wood coffee table between them, and a large, matching desk and bookcases toward the north end of the room. Behind the desk, reclining in the chair was Don Whitehorse, glancing over papers with wizened eyes, and Raven standing beside him.

Yuri sat down on the sofa, on an end away from the desk and leaned back. His whole attitude was once more unafraid and unconcerned. He motioned for the others to sit, Flynn and Estellise on the ends of the couch close to the desk.

"So, what is of such urgency that two Imperials come to see me?"

Estellise stood before Flynn could and gave a little bow. "Thank you for seeing us. We fear that Commandant Alexei Dinoia is planning something that could endanger both the Empire and the Union. He has captured Prince Ioder and has him imprisoned with the palace in Zaphias. He is somehow harnessing aer and filling the palace with it."

"Why would he be doin' that?"

She hesitated for only a second, and Yuri shifted his gaze over to her, as if waiting to see what she would do and say. "I have to say that I do not know, but if this continues, then the lives of the people of Zaphias and the prince are all in danger. I don't know how he will benefit from this, but it will surely be at the cost of the lives of many innocent people."

Flynn stood beside her, bowing also. "Nothing good can come from whatever he is planning. The main problem is that we don't have much of an idea of what he is planning. We know that he is after members of the royal family."

Raven leaned over to the Don, whispering, and passed him a slip of paper. He picked it up, skimming its contents briefly, and then reading through better a second time as if in disbelief.

"From Belius?"

"Yeah. Arrived just a bit ago."

"I see." He turned his eyes back to Estellise and Flynn. "So, you're Princess Estellise then?"

"Y-Yes, Sir."

"Looks like you've got someone looking out for ya. Whaddya want from me?"

"We'd like your assistance retaking the capital from Alexei and saving Master Ioder."

"And why should I help you? The Empire's caused me a lotta trouble these past few years."

"If Alexei is not stopped, Dahngrest and the Union could be in danger as well. We're not sure what he's planning, but we know that it can't be good."

The Don leaned back, tapping the ends of his huge fingers together and casting his eyes over them, looking for traces of falsehood. "What do you think, Yuri?"

"Whatever Alexei is doing, it's definitely a danger to Dahngrest. Zaphias, too."

"You feeling a little bit of homesickness for that place, lad?" The mountain of a man laughed.

"Not on your life, Gramps. I hate the Empire."

"All right. I'll give ya some assistance. but I want something in return, in case your little prince decides that he's not too keen on cooperating after I go through all this trouble."

"What did you have in mind as compensation in that case?"

"Yer life."

Flynn didn't waver. He couldn't show weakness here. He had to believe in Ioder and Estellise and the idea of taking down Alexei. "My life is forfeit then if it comes to that. What are your other conditions?

"I want a show of loyalty from ya. I need to know if I can trust ya. In order to do that, I want ya to go to Caer Bocram. Heard the Empire's gotta lot of knights hanging around there for it just being some ruins. Something's up and I want to know what it is. Prove to me that yer little plan is worthy of my effort." He stood. Even behind the desk, he loomed over them. "And Yuri, yer going with them."

"Sure thing." He wasn't surprised in the least. He had probably known all along what the Don was planning. Flynn was pretty sure that the only reason that they even got a meeting with Don Whitehorse was because his grandson convinced him to hear them out, whether or not he would admit it.

"Now get outta here. I want you out of town with the dawn."

They left quickly and quietly around the back of the building to Yuri's apartment upstairs. At the stairs, Karol separated from them. "Well, I'm going home. I'll see you bright and early."

"Night, Karol."

They said their good nights and Karol disappeared into the darkened city.

"My landlady said you two could stay in the unused apartment next door. It's not much, but she keeps it neat and furnished for when her family comes into town." Yuri produced a key, handing it to Estellise and pointing upward to the apartment adjacent to his own.

"What about Flynn?"

"He can sleep on my couch."

The two girls wasted no time saying their good nights also and heading up to bed. Flynn followed Yuri upstairs as well and into the apartment that he resided in. He hadn't gotten a good look at it before and now he could honestly say that he was surprised by the neatness of the place.

Yuri didn't strike him as a neat freak, but everything had a place and was in it. There was a minimum of decorations. There were a few swords hanging along one wall, wooden and otherwise, and above them, a banner with the crest of Dahngrest. The sofa that sat on the edge of the living room was only big enough for two people, a little tattered and dusty, patched with bits of fabric. The kitchen was well stocked and well equipped and clean. It was quiet and strange and didn't bear a homey feeling. It seemed as though Yuri was on the road so often that the place was barely lived in. Suddenly, he felt so far removed from his own home and his own city that this place felt alien.

"It's not much, but it's better than sleeping in jail." Yuri shut the door behind Repede, who padded into the living room and laid down on the rug beside the sofa.

"No. It's fine."

The dark haired man drifted down the hallway and into a room. A moment later, he returned with a pillow and a blanket and tossed them at Flynn.

"Make yourself at home." Yuri stretched and yawned. He turned back with a crooked smile. "I'll be down the hall if you decide you want to join me."

The heat rose once more against his neck and into his face. Flynn turned away, rubbing his neck, feeling generally uncomfortable. Why did the guildsman insist on this continual and unwanted teasing? He was so good at making Flynn feel strange in ways he never had before.

"Good night." Yuri shot him one last come-hither glance as he walked down the hallway and disappeared once more into the room, faint laughter following behind.

Flynn flopped down on the couch with a groan, pulling the blanket over himself.

For a long time, he tossed and turned, the dark and the quiet unnerving him to no end. He sat up and laid back down and got up again and cracked open a window to alleviate the annoying heat still lingering in his limbs before laying back down again. All manner of thoughts drifted through his brain. He thought of his father, of his home city and the heinous things happening within its walls. He thought about Dahngrest and its ever twilight sky and the enigmatic and strangely alluring Yuri that called the city home. He thought of the distance between them, both literal and figurative, both the two cities and he and Yuri respectively. He thought of silvery scars on heat flushed skin, and cunning and lively dark grey eyes.

In the dark, he could see the shining of Repede's eye looking up at him from the floor. The dog yawned, letting out a whine.

"I don't get it, Repede." He sat up, pushing his blond hair out of his face and backward in frustration. "Every time I look at him, I feel sick.” He went on to think, his mouth not wanting to utter so many strange and formless words into the darkness. _We disagree about so much but at the same time, his willingness to help others is admirable. I don't want to think about him and how fierce and graceful and—somehow after everything—worthy of admiration he is, but I can't stop._

The dog snorted at him, as if laughing, as if knowing.

"What's so funny?"

Repede wuffed softly, and snorted again.

 _It's not like I'm enraptured by his every movement or enthralled by the simple sway of his hips or the fall of his hair._ Flynn rubbed his fire hot face, agitation wearing on his every move. _It's not like I can't keep my eyes off of him. I haven't paid more than a passing second's mind to that kiss he stole...._ He leaned back onto the couch pillows, sighing. He kicked the covers off fitfully. Even with the window open, he was much too warm. His stomach churned uncomfortably and he brought one of his hands to his face to distract himself from the sounds it made.

Flynn ran his fingers across his lips. The slight sensation was nothing like when Yuri had kissed him, leaving the barest trace of apple flavor and sweetness that Flynn found himself struggling to not remember, but burned so hot in his brain that he would never forget. That wolfish grin and glint of his charcoal eyes didn't make Flynn feel weak in the knees at all.

"Oh, hell." He was lying to himself and suddenly he knew the truth. "I'm attracted to him."

The sound Repede produced was much more like laughter than any noise he had ever heard a dog make and when Flynn jolted up, he could swear that the warrior dog was smiling.

"Don't you dare tell Yuri." If in fact they could communicate in earnest and the dark haired guildsman wasn't completely mad.

Repede raised his furry brow as if to say some combination of 'who do you think you're talking to?' and 'what's in it for me?'

"I'll buy you a steak."

The dog seemed thoroughly far from amused by Flynn's attempt at bribery. He laid his head down, staring up at Flynn with his single green eye. He seemed to say 'You can trust me.'

"Thanks, Repede." Flynn laid back down, letting one arm drape off the sofa so that he could pet the dog as he tried once more to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

The rain threatened to impede them as they neared the ruins of Caer Bocram after a two day journey. It softened as they reached the cliff side that sheltered the mass of fallen buildings and overgrowth and was only a drizzle when they neared the entrance of the ruins. Rumors were that the town had been destroyed in recent earthquakes, but from the age of the wear on the crumbling structures, Rita surmised that it had been much longer than a few years. She estimated almost five hundred with the amount of overgrowth and decay. One thing they knew instantly was that the Don had been right. Caer Bocram was crawling with knights. They were positioned at the entrance, by the remains of the city wall and at nearly every building. They were a mixed company, some wearing the uniform of the Cumore Brigade, others the olive and brown of the Schwann, and still others wearing the red Royal Guard uniform.

They crouched under the huge leaves of a palm-like plant.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Estelle asked. "There are knights everywhere."

"We need a distraction."

"Or we can take this." Yuri pointed out a fallen pillar covered in ivy and thick green moss. "It looks like it leads right up to the roof. Once we're up there, we should be able to move around without being seen." As much as he would love to barge in and take down the knights in a fight, this was a reconnaissance mission. The last thing he wanted was for the Empire to know that they knew about this place. Not getting captured was also on that list.

He shimmied up the pillar first, finding handholds in the long growing ivy. He spent a quiet moment scouting the roof and surrounding area. It seemed safe, and he returned to the pillar to pull Estelle, then Rita up, and Karol and Flynn followed. Repede hopped up after them, taking the incline with ease. They all waited and watched the movements of the guards to better plan their movements across the ruins. The whole place seemed well guarded, but a few moments of observation betrayed flaws and blind spots. From this rooftop, they had access to others in the area, but the second level of buildings built into the walls of the cliff side would prove a little more challenging.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Karol kept a trained eye watching the milling knights.

"If we knew that, we wouldn't be here." Rita was ever quick with a harsh reply.

"Our best bet is to look for the most heavily guarded building. That's where the action's going to be." In the immediate vicinity, there were no areas that were obviously more heavily protected. As they climbed to the next roof, Yuri spotted an area on the next level that had an extra guard, and these were Royal Guards.

He moved forward first followed by his ever present partner, scouting out their path. The second flight was accessible through a thick wall of vines that hung behind one of the buildings and out of sight. The guards paced and Yuri waved each party member through in the blind spot as the guards turned their backs. One by one they made it up the ledge and into an empty, unguarded building nearby that they entered through a large hole in its rear wall.

The shelter allowed them a few moments out of the rain to plot their next movements. Yuri could see a ledge not too far away where a sizable group of knights were stationed. He pointed it out to Flynn, who was observing the scene beside him. "Whatever they're hiding, it's back there."

"You and I should continue on and leave the others here." He spoke quietly, but Estelle heard anyway and objected.

"No. This was a mission that Don Whitehorse entrusted to you and I. I have just as much to prove to him as you do. If anything, you and I should be the only ones to continue.”

"What?! There is no way I'm letting you go by yourself. That's stupid!"

"Rita's right. It'll be safer if we all stick together. Getting separated here is a bad idea. For now, let's get back out there and look for a way over there."

They left the building the way they had entered. There didn't seem to be an obvious way to move from their current location to where they wanted to be. They moved to the third level of the city, which was thankfully free of guards. It seemed as though the knights didn't want to bother with this area. Even with the bit of freedom that they had, they remained quiet and stealthily moved from one building to another.

"Yuri."

"What did you find, Estelle?"

"This house has a set of stairs leading down. Maybe that'll take us back down."

"Good job." He smiled and she flushed as pink as her own hair. "Let's give it a try." Yuri opened the window she had been peeking in. It resisted at first, but with enough effort, he opened it. He crept in first, examining the remains of the home that this building had once been. The air was musty and thick with years of undisturbed dust and decay. Rain leaked onto the wooden floor from a hole in the ceiling, dampening the yellowed books and papers that laid strewn about. Whoever had inhabited this town had left in a hurry.

He moved down the stairs a little ways and he could see through the window on the front door, a guard standing there, slouched against the door as if sleeping. A little ways further down the stairs, he got a good view of the unguarded path that led away from what was once the town square and toward a small pond that appeared to be vaguely in the direction they were heading in. It was better than nothing. He would have to knock the guard out, but be careful not to cause too much of a ruckus and alert others in the area. He padded softly across the landing and to the door. He double checked to see if there were any other guards before he made his move. It was all clear.

Yuri reached through a hole in the glass window, holding his breath and moving slow and silently. He clamped his hand over the knight's mouth, and the man started to struggle. Yuri pulled open the door, pulling the knight with it, and they tumbled onto the building's concrete floor.

The knight fumbled, struggling for his sword, fighting for his life, but Yuri pinned him down and ripped off his helmet.

"Sorry." He raised the pommel of his blade and struck the struggling knight in the side of his head. The guard fell instantly limp, knocked out cold. "Not really."

Yuri made quick work of tying up and blindfolding the man. He checked once more to make sure the area outside was free of guards, before heading back up the stairs and waving for the others to follow.

"Are you all right, Yuri?"

He was a little breathless from his fight, but felt fine until she touched his left arm and found a long cut. It must have been caused by his sudden movement through the glass window while he fought with the guard. "It's not too bad. No need to worry."

In a flash of green and gold, the flesh of his arm began knitting itself back together quickly and after a few seconds all that remained was a dark scar that with enough time would turn pale like all the others.

"Thanks."

"I'm glad I could help."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rita staring at Estelle from the corner of her teal eyes. As a blastia researcher, she must have noticed the fact that Estelle wasn't using that pretty trinket of a blastia on her arm to cast. Rita was sharp, and had probably picked up on it days ago. That didn't really worry him. Rita and Estelle seemed to becoming fast friends, in spite of the mage's prickly nature when it came to other people.

"Any guards nearby?" Flynn started down the stairs.

"Just one. But he won't be waking up for a while."

Flynn frowned at him, but said nothing further as he descended to the bottom floor. The others followed and Yuri watched as he dutifully checked on his uninjured comrade. He frowned again, but he didn't look at Yuri this time. Instead, he searched the man's clothing, those slightly tanned fingers knowing every button and pocket of the Royal Guard's uniform intimately. It made Yuri think some very questionable thoughts that he kept to himself. Some days, he was bothered by his inexplicable attraction to blonds, but he had no time right now to worry about it.

After a moment, Flynn produced a key from the knight's pocket.

They moved on from the broken down building. They began to round a corner toward the lake, but Repede growled, alerting them to more guards that were heading toward them. They ducked beneath another plant behind a crumbling wall to wait for them to pass.

The two guards chatted as they marched along the thoroughfare and, unaware of the party's presence, stopped only a few feet from their hiding spot.

"So, what do you think they're going to do with that thing?"

"No telling. It's been kept very confidential by the Commandant."

"Well, I'm sure Sir Garista knows what he's doing. He is our top scientist after all."

Yuri held back a breathless growl, and resisted the urge to move off his aching legs. If Garista was involved here too, nothing good would come of this. While praised by the citizens of Zaphias as a genius in the fields of blastia and military strategy, the people of Dahngrest held no such respect for him. After all, it was his machines of war that had razed half of the city. Yuri regretted not ending Garista when he'd had the chance.

Beside him, he could see Rita barely holding back her rage over that name as well.

"I bet it's something like with the Hera--"

"Shh! You fool. We're not supposed to discuss that at all. Even amongst ourselves."

Yuri's interest was piqued, but it seemed as though these blabbermouths were done talking for now. Instead of continuing their march toward the town square, they stopped and moved on to talking about far less interesting things like their families. He tolerated only a moment of this before picking up a rock. He aimed for the bushes behind a nearby house and chucked it as hard as he could. It flew unnoticed through the air and crashed through the bushes, alerting the guards.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. Let's go check it out."

The two knights moved to investigate, giving the party just a moment to leave their hiding spot and get around the corner and into another empty house. This one wasn't much different from the last, save the staircase leading down instead of up. The condition of this house seemed a little better than the other as well. The roof didn't leak and there was less of a mess. Even with the lack of light, Yuri was sure that he spied a trail in the thick dust, boot prints across the concrete floor. The long spiral staircase that led to a basement floor appeared new as well, constructed of metal instead of rotting wood, and from the floor below was a garish yellow light. It didn't match the rest of the technology that they had seen.

He didn't see any guards as he took a few steps down, only a large, round metal door and a control panel beside it. "Hey. I found something."

Rita pushed into him to see what was downstairs and so did Flynn. She squeezed past him, taking the steps nearly two at a time and moved straight to the door and the control panel. She paced in front of it, examining each carefully.

"What is this?" Estelle headed down next, peering over the lighted control panel.

"It's a control for a door."

Karol groaned beside him, hunching his shoulders and clamping an arm over his stomach.

"What's wrong, Karol?"

"I just feel real sick all of a sudden."

He patted the child on the back. "Just hang in there." Yuri didn't want to mention the heaviness suddenly wearing on him also. He knew this feeling from some years ago and had no great pleasure in remembering that sensation.

"I'm not feeling so well either."

"That's the density of the aer. For some reason, it's really concentrated here." Rita didn't seem too affected by it, but she was tough. She fiddled with the controls a moment and sighed angrily.

"What's wrong?"

"It's asking for a password."

He pondered for only a moment. "Try 'Ceazontania'."

Flynn shot him a brief, shocked look that Yuri ignored.

With a few buttons, Rita entered the code and the vault door opened, sending a stream of green bubbles into the room.

"So the excess aer is coming from in here." Yuri pulled the door open a little and peeked through. It was large, rounded room, that dipped down in the middle to a large pit. He stepped onto the circular platform and everyone else followed. Above them, serving as the ceiling of the room was a wall of water held by a glowing ring, perhaps the pond on the ground above them. Rita noticed as much as well.

"It's a reverse barrier. It's being used to keep the water up there and something down here."

"Something as in...?"

An earth shattering roar broke the otherwise silent atmosphere and forced their vision downward.

"That!"

"What is it?"

It was a monster of enormous proportions, dragon-like and craggy in appearance, held by numerous thick, metal chains. Its sharp red eyes looked up at them and its beak-like mouth opened for a shriek. It shook the whole room. Their attention moved back to the barrier above as it sparked and crackled, the glowing fading slightly.

"That's not good!"

"Chill out. I'll fix it--" Before Rita could make it around the platform, the monster pounded its huge front legs against the floor of the pit, shaking the whole room. Repede grabbed her by the back of her tunic as she started to slip.

Yuri had already learned what they had come there to find out. Unless they could interrogate Garista personally, this seemed to be as much information as they would get for now. The fact that the knights were keeping a monster of these proportions was a good start, and that Garista was working on some super secret project. It wasn't much to go on, but he had worked with much less before. He was ready to get out of here before things got worse. But as a crash came through the barrier above, he knew it was too late.

Through the wall of water and glowing barrier came the white armored dragon rider from the mansion at Capua Nor. As soon as the figure pierced the barrier, the water from above began to rain down on them, heavy at first like a downpour, and then softening as the pond above emptied.

"You!" Rita shouted, as her hands prepared to cast a fire ball at the rider.

The dragon rider was too swift and easily dodged as she flung magic. He swooped down to the monster below, lashing out at the chains that held it and snapping them easily.

"Come back here you!" Rita continued to fire even though it proved useless.

As the rider disappeared through the new hole in the ceiling above, the monster crashed through the wall below.

The whole room shook, the platform beneath them threatening to crumble.

"Let's get out of here! Now!" Yuri took it upon himself to start shoving the others toward the open vault door and off of the walkway that was quickly disintegrating beneath their feet. A fall into the pit below could prove lethal, especially if they had to fight a monster like that one. He vaulted through the door behind the others, and with Flynn's help, pulled it shut and sealed it once more.

The earth shook again, harder than before, and shouting followed. It was a series of orders by a commander to the knights outside. Things were looking bad fast.

"I think it's time to go. Now."

Without argument, he rushed the others up the stairs to the main floor and to the front door. If they believed that the place was crawling with knights before, it was worse now. They had all come out of the woodwork, scrambling and shouting to find the dragon rider and recapture the other monster. They watched quietly and waited by the front door of the building for the barest of openings to escape. There were so many knights that he began to think their chances for escape were not very high.

Two more knights passed the door in a full sprint toward the entrance of town and that gave them only a moment before the others could follow. Yuri didn't see any following immediately and took the chance that was given to them. He bolted out the door and across the thoroughfare to the bushes that could lend them cover to get out of town.

"Hurry up!" He knew they were moving as fast as they could. He nearly pushed Estelle, Rita, and Karol into the brush and started to take up the back with Flynn, but it was too late.

"Intruders! Get them!"

"Shit!" He swore internally numerous times more.

Knights rushed at them from both sides of the path, swords drawn and halberds raised, shouting at them to stay were they were and surrender. He liked being against the odds normally, and them versus a few knights would be no problem, but there was more than a brigade worth here. They were dangerously outnumbered. He was reckless, not careless. He didn't like the odds here.

Yuri drew his sword, passing the scabbard off to Karol, and turned toward the growing crowd of knights.

"What--?"

"Karol, take the girls and run. Go straight to Dahngrest and don't look back."

"But, Yuri--"

"I'm serious. There's no time. I'll handle things here." He spun the child around. "I'm relying on you to get them back to Dahngrest safely."

"O-okay! Just be careful!"

"Repede, go with them. You too, Flynn."

Repede whined, but left Yuri's side to move to the head of the group.

"I'm staying."

He wanted to argue with the blond that there were far better times to stop hesitating and take a stand than this one, but he didn't have the time. The knights pressed closer and Yuri spun to confront them, Flynn at his side with his sword ready. Behind them, the other four members of their party dashed away, seemingly unnoticed. He was able to breathe a little sigh of relief and focus on the task at hand. That was not getting captured or killed. They just needed to buy some time.

A blue-white glow from behind the knights worried him, and the word "Lightning!" that followed only proved worse.

The light arced in a flash, striking him. The shock ripped through him, tearing away all his strength and causing his body to seize up. Beside him, Flynn groaned, sword slipping out of his hand as the light overcame him too.

Yuri fought off the darkness as long as he could. He couldn't lose consciousness here. He had to buy Karol and the others a little longer to get away. Even as Flynn hit the ground, smoke emanating from his unconscious form, Yuri tried to remain standing, tried to keep a hold of his sword, tried to resist. Another cry of "Lightning!" hit his ears as the flash engulfed him once more, putting every one of his hairs on end, the magic lightning burrowing deep into his core.

He couldn't hold out any longer. All his control was ripped away from him and he fell face first into the mud.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Notes: Time for a some back story reveal!

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

He woke with a jolt, his whole body tingling and achy. It took him a moment to get his bearings and remember what had happened to put his body is such a sorry state. He and Yuri had made a stand at the rainy, ruined city of Caer Bocram, and judging from the look of the room around them, they had been captured.

It was hardly a room. It wasn't much larger than a closet, and the cage they were in was even too small to stand in, with the bars that enclosed them telling Flynn that wherever they were, they were prisoners. From a tiny window on the right side of the room, he could hear the grind of metal armor and the tromp of boots along wood. The window offered a little dim light, informing him that it was not raining outside, but not sunny either and it was still daylight. How long had he been out and where was he?

Yuri sat across from him, pressed up against the door, fighting with his hand restraints. The metal shackles clanked against his bodhi blastia bracelet and against the floor when he moved just right. After a moment, he tried kicking the door, but the bars didn't budge, so he cursed and settled back into the corner with a huff and a swear.

"Where are we?"

"Good of you to finally wake up." Yuri's tone was cold with sarcasm. It wasn't his normal joking. He was using it to hide something much more serious. "This is Heliord."

Flynn scooted from his spot against one of the back cell walls over to the window to see whatever he could. Just beyond the window, there were tall, rising stone fortifications and wooden platforms and parapets, knights pacing them endlessly. Beyond the walls, he could see the tops of trees and clouded sky, but little else.

"Why Heliord?"

"It's the nearest Imperial stronghold to Caer Bocram, so a natural choice."

"How long have we been here?"

"Since yesterday. I don't expect to be here much longer."

"What do you mean?"

Yuri remained silent as he stared at the door, as if he didn't like the answer that he would have to give to that question. He may have been a joker and a kidder, but he had proven honest to this point and for him to choose not to answer was a worse sign that him telling a lie. Circumstances must have been dire to illicit this sort of reaction from the man who seemed to be able to take on just about anything.

Flynn rattled his own shackles. They were tight against his wrists, cutting into sore flesh with their razor sharp edges. He winced a little as he moved, shifting on his legs to sit cross-legged on the floor.

The dark haired guildsman moved once more, slowly and quiet to try and hide the sound of his chains rattling as he attempted to reach into his pocket. He strained and twisted and stretched, cutting his own arms further as he did so, swearing. "Damn it, just a little further..."

He stopped abruptly as a pair of footsteps crossed the walkway in front of where they were being held, but no one entered, and he merely groaned again.

"How did you know what the password for the vault would be in Caer Bocram?" Flynn felt like that question was a little sudden, but it had been bothering him since that moment.

"'Ceazontania'? That's were Garista's research got its start."

"It was you there four years ago, wasn't it?"

The guildsman looked at him in surprise that melted after a moment to a cool and cocky smirk. "Ha. You were that rookie knight from the bar that night? Never thought I'd run into you again." He chuckled a little to himself, leaning back into the bars to look at Flynn. "I guess that explains some things."

"Why were you there?"

"Just helping out the local guild. They said that the Knights and the occurrences going on in the forest were getting to be a pain."

Flynn felt satisfied in his suspicions, but dissatisfied with the answer Yuri gave him. If he knew about Garista and his research, than he certainly had more to do there than aid the guild. "How did you get Captain Niren's bodhi blastia?" The question came out in a much more accusatory tone than he had intended, but he didn't amend his statement. It was a bit of an accusation after all. When he last saw the captain after the events at Ceazontania, he still had the bracelet.

"He gave it to me."

"What do you mean, gave it?"

"You know that he left the Knights right after all that went down, right? He told me that he left to wander the world, sick of how Alexei was running things and he stopped in Dahngrest for a bit and we caught up over a few drinks. He gave me this as a keepsake and Repede his pipe."

"Then Repede..."

"Was Lambert's pup." The guildsman's voice softened and Flynn remembered what he had been told about the horror that had befallen the war dog. "Repede decided to come with me after all that."

So, he was the one who had put Lambert out of his misery when he had become part of the aer monster that had ravaged the caravan. Back then, Flynn had regretted going to the capital on the captain's behalf to ask for reinforcements and not being there to aid in the town's defense. That had instead fallen to the remaining knights and the guild members. Even though Yuri was unaffiliated with the Knights and had no ties to the town itself, he had aided their cause and seemed to bear the burden of having killed his partner's sire.

Flynn remembered now, after the realization that Yuri had been there too had hit him. He remembered seeing him interacting in a friendly and almost respectful manner to the captain. They ate dinner together on a few occasions, and on the captain's off duty hours, they could be found at the bar, enjoying a drink. Surely in that time, he had become friends with Lambert as well.

How had he forgotten all of this? He had never paid a second thought to the guildsman who had fought with him in the bar that night after Yuri had started the fight with some of the other guild members over their treatment of a villager. Flynn had been annoyed and in need of a shower afterward, but had put the whole unpleasant affair out of his head until now.

Yuri sighed, and Flynn picked up a stream of words that he seemed to be muttering to himself. "At least Karol and the girls got away."

"What?"

"Oh." He seemed suddenly surprised by Flynn's attention. "I'm so used to talking to Repede. You're just not that great a conversational partner."

He scowled, but Yuri only chuckled.

"Why were you so desperate to get them out of Caer Bocram and stay and fight yourself?"

"If I bought them a little time to get to safety, then it was worth it."

Flynn eyed him quietly. There was still a piece of the story missing.

"You really don't get it?" He sighed, closing his eyes in frustration. "Gods, the war really hasn't effected you lucky bastards in Zaphias at all." What wasn't he telling him?

Footsteps approached once more and they grew silent again. The boots stopped in front of the door, and it swung open. Yuri kept his back to the door and his head lowered a bit. Flynn remained in full view to see who was coming and he didn't like it once he knew.

"Why, if it isn't Flynn Scifo." Cumore sauntered in with two of his knights in tow. "And a traitorous Union mongrel. What an interesting catch from Caer Bocram."

"Captain Cumore, please, you have to hear me out." All Flynn wanted was a chance to explain the situation, but he received only a cackle in response.

Yuri grimaced, his shoulders hunched with a tense sigh. Flynn should have known that a second attempt to explain to the haughty, noble-born captain would be as foolish as the first. He must be siding with Alexei. There was no other real reason for him to blatantly ignore the truth that Flynn was trying to express.

"You're in luck, you stupid upstart. Commandant Alexei has deemed you worthy of a pardon."

"What?"

Even Yuri reacted with the barest bit of surprise, opening his eyes, and looking over to Flynn.

Cumore sneered at him. "You are to be reinstated as a Royal Guard by order of the Commandant. The only condition is that you have to surrender Princess Estellise to us."

His blood boiled in his veins and he struggled to his knees. His knighthood wasn't worth endangering the life of the princess. "What is Alexei planning?! Why does he need Lady Estellise?! What has happened to your ideals, and Alexei's ideals, and Knights of the Imperial honor?!

"I guess you really are just like your idiot father. You will never learn. Little wonder he's dead." He turned as Flynn called out to him enraged by such a comment. "Guards, set the date of execution for these traitors for dawn. We'll let their bodies hang with the others to serve as a warning for anyone else who might try to defy the might of the Empire." He left as easily as he came, and the guards followed.

"What was he talking about?!" Flynn had little problem turning his venom on Yuri.

"Did you know why I wanted to avoid this place to begin with?" The guildsman tilted his head a little to one side and looked at him with eyes that were calm. "This fort is known as Guildsman Gallows."

"What?"

"The bodies of guildsmen hang from the walls outside this fort. Any who are considered traitors of the Empire are executed and strung up as an example."

The adrenaline in his system died down quickly and he realized suddenly why Yuri was so insistent about Karol and the girls getting away. He was protecting that child from all sorts of things even while claiming to be preparing him for the world. He hid the meanings of his scars behind stories of fights, when they were scars of torture, he hid the reason for not going to this city, simply stating that there were too many knights to deal with, when in fact this place was where his kind went to die. Thus far, nearly everything he had done had been for the benefit of Karol, whether or not he would admit it, and he didn't want the bright eyed boy to see the true horror of war and meet his end in such a shameful way.

Flynn couldn't look at him anymore. He was so full of anger and sadness. He felt so betrayed. Was this truly what the Empire he cared so much for was about? What of his own ideals and those of his father and those of Captain Niren? How could they have allowed such a thing as this to happen? Were they only a handful of those who truly believed in the ideals of being a knight, of truth and honor and helping those less fortunate, where all the others had abandoned this for the lust of power and war?

"Quit brooding. Now that he's gone, come over here and get your hand in my pocket."

He snapped out of his thoughts, glancing over quickly with a brow arched in suspicion.

Yuri returned the glance with a glare of seriousness. "Does it sound like I'm flirting with you right now? If you want to get out of here, just do it."

Still wary of whatever the guildsman's intentions could be, he scooted toward his corner of the cell and Yuri slid his way slowly and quietly as well. When Flynn neared, he laid down on one side, facing Flynn.

"Reach into my pocket. It'll be there in the lining."

Flynn sighed and did as he was told, turning away from Yuri so that he could maneuver his hand into the dark haired man's pocket. He had no idea what he was looking for, so his fingers searched blindly for a moment until something sharp and metal pricked him. He struggled for a moment to grab it, jabbing himself numerous times in the process before he was able to get his fingers around it and pull it out. He couldn't see it, but he was pretty sure that it was a lock pick judging from the weight and length.

"Hold on a second." Yuri wiggled toward him a little more, and pressed in close.

Yuri's lips brushed against his fingertips as he grabbed the lock pick and Flynn tried with all his might to ignore that distracting sensation in his spine that he knew was his strange attraction to the man. Yuri fumbled to his knees, his shoulder sliding against Flynn's back as he tried to get his balance. He leaned down and Flynn could hear the metal pick clicking around in the barrel of the shackle's lock, pressing against the tumblers to find the combinations to open them. After a moment and a faint click, Flynn's arm was free and he pulled them around in front of him to remove the shackles.

The guildsman sat up and turned around, allowing Flynn to take the pick from his mouth, and then walked him through the process of picking the lock. It was certainly a learning experience that he had not intended on having.

As soon as Yuri was free of his shackles, he took the lock pick back. It was not in the best shape anymore, bent from having to pick two locks of a high quality with complex tumblers, but if all worked out well, he should have been able to take care of the lock on the cage.

"Where did you get that?" Flynn questioned even though he should have let Yuri work the lock in silence.

He smirked widely. "I nabbed it back in Zaphias, but you never gave me the chance to use it. Good thing."

Flynn wanted to be angry, but instead he was merely grateful. It was fortuitous that it ended up getting saved for such an unforeseen event as this one. But as the tumblers in the cage lock began to turn, a loud snap stopped them cold.

"Fuck." Yuri looked at the bit remaining between his pale fingers. It wouldn't be enough to work with successfully. He sighed and tossed it aside as he slouched against the bars. "There goes that plan. Any ideas?"

"They took everything I had on me." He sagged also.

"Okay. How about this? When they open the cage for meal time, we'll--" He stopped suddenly as footsteps approached once more. It may have been too late to formulate a plan before the cell door was opened and their opportunity lost.

The door opened quietly, and figure slid in closing it behind them. The person turned and Flynn knew the woman in an instant.

"Sodia!"

"Sir, what is going on?" She knelt by the cage, all but ignoring Yuri. "You're wanted and then you're captured in the company of a man from the Union."

"Alexei is mad. He has Master Ioder imprisoned in the castle and is using him like some sort of blastia. I have gone to the Union for Don Whitehorse's aid in saving Master Ioder. Captain Cumore is convinced that I am a traitor to the Empire and he and Alexei are after Lady Estellise." The string of words could not have come out of his mouth faster if he tried.

She stared back at him in disbelief for a moment. "I believe in you, Sir." She pulled a key out of her pocket and opened the cage.

"Sodia...."

"Hurry. Get out of here before the shift change. Head to the west, you can be far out of town before dawn."

He nodded, sliding out and standing for the first time in what felt like a long time. His body was achy and weary. As he turned to motion for Yuri follow, Sodia shut and locked the door, leaving the guildsman inside. "Wait. He has to come with me."

"But Sir, he is--"

Yuri cut her off before Flynn could. He spoke with a calm seriousness, neither harsh nor particularly soft. It was a tone that Flynn hadn't heard before. "Are you sure? I'm a convicted criminal after all. This is where I belong."

Flynn didn't need to think twice. He knew in his heart what was right. "Yuri's coming or you can leave us both here."

The dark haired man looked at him a little surprised, an expression that Sodia matched. She didn't argue further, merely unlocking the door once more to let Yuri out as well. She handed Flynn his pack and sword, and then thrust Yuri's at him. Her movements were sharp and she looked at him with the suspicion that Flynn once had for the guildsman.

"What's going on in the capital? Where is the Council and do you have any word of Master Ioder."

"The Commandant claims that Prince Ioder has fallen ill with Lady Estellise's disappearance, and no one, including the Council has seen him. Alexei has made himself scarce as well, but commands continue to be issued. Most of them come through Lady Khroma."

"Then the capital is safe?"

"Yes. Everything there seems normal."

That gave him a little relief, but it was fleeting as he and Yuri were still tasked with escaping without their captors knowing they were gone. Yuri had been pressed up against the wall, watching carefully out the windows to the city beyond our cell, presumably watching the patterns of the guards.

"Where is Lady Estellise?" Sodia drew his attention back.

Flynn opened his mouth to speak, but Yuri interjected. "She's safe."

She was not pleased with this answer, but Flynn was sure he knew what Yuri was trying to say. If Sodia was caught helping them, she could be interrogated, and then Alexei would pursue them further knowing where Estellise was.

"He's right. Lady Estellise is safe. That's what is important right now." Although being escorted back to the city of Guilds, the Empire's enemy, by a child, a teenage mage, and a dog, he couldn't honestly attest to how safe she really was. He could only hope at this point. With luck, they were already back in Dahngrest. "What is the quickest route for escape from here?"

"Just off the walkway is a covered construction scaffolding. Follow it all the way to the walled edge of the labor camp. Be careful of the perimeter alarm."

"Thank you. Please take ca--"

"Can you hurry up? Long goodbyes are overrated." Yuri shot them a heated glance.

"We'll find some way to stop Alexei. Please believe in me."

"I do. Go. I'll stall as long as possible." Sodia slipped out first and kept watch for a moment. As soon as the coast was clear, she motioned for them to come out.

They had but a brief second out of the sight of the knights to slip across the platform. They crept quick and quiet and she pointed them down to a set of scaffolding braced against the wall of the city fortress. Yuri opened the tarp that covered the top, and dropped down first, and Flynn followed. He glanced up briefly and saw Sodia wave him goodbye before Yuri closed the tarp covering the construction.

"Let's go," he said in the faintest whisper of a breath. He turned and crept along the scaffolding, movements smooth and stealthy, careful to not jostle it as he walked. The slightest movement could betray them.

It was almost a straight shot along the rickety, wooden platforms, angling down to a ladder that dropped inside the labor camp. The other option was to jump and hit the ground, likely alerting the knight from the sheer noise of the force. Either way, they were going to be heard, and Yuri decided for them. He grabbed Flynn by the arm and jumped.

Flynn tucked his legs underneath him, feet flat as he hit the ground, but the impact of hitting unforgiving earth sent tremors through his limbs. He hadn't broken anything, thankfully.

They landed just beyond the walls of the camp, and after a second, it was evident that they had been heard as he expected. Knights rushed to the sides of the upper platform, shouting orders at them, at each other. Those of them on the lower level who had been in the labor camp came toward them, swords and halberds up and ready for a fight.

For a split second, Yuri was transfixed on the upper floor, where numerous cages hung, holding the remnants of the dead. He snapped himself out of it in time to grab Flynn once more and dash into the forest.

They ran for their lives.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Notes: Another of my favorite chapters as far as writing it and plotting it went.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

That night, they ran as far and as fast as their legs could carry them in order to put a substantial distance between them and the fortress of death. It was nearly daylight when they stopped, soaked in sweat and ice cold water from where they had forded no less than three bodies of water in order to hide their scent from the war dogs that would surely be following them. They stopped at the edge of the forest, and Yuri's aching legs immediately forced him to the ground rather than allowing him to stand any longer. Flynn wasn't in much better shape, nearly collapsing against a tree, panting.

Both took a few long moments to catch their breaths and let their adrenaline fueled muscles calm.

Yuri stood after a few moments, pulling off his belt and vest, wringing the water out of them. His shirt clung wetly to his every inch of skin, but it kept him cool, so he left it alone. Since their flight from Heliord, he'd had one question burning in his brain: Why had Flynn made Sodia release him also?

He was pretty sure he knew the answer. If Flynn returned to Dahngrest without him, Gramps wouldn't have been too pleased. He could have easily decided that he no longer wanted to aid Flynn and Estelle, or he could have chosen to take the Knight's life in retribution. Yuri and the Don both knew that this was a hazard of Yuri's occupation. He could be found out and executed as the Empire deemed fit. However, in securing Yuri's safety, Flynn had secured his own safety as well. He was probably hoping to add that to the reasons why the Don should trust him. Yuri had seen through it, and Gramps would too.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Flynn was wringing out his own shirt as he shouted, giving Yuri a good glimpse of that tanned figure that he cursed himself for being attracted to.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to remain undistracted by Flynn's lean form, skin dappled with the occasional patch of faint freckles and far less scars than Yuri himself bore.

"'Are you sure?'" He asked in a tone that mocked Yuri's from the question he had posed before Sodia let him out. "Did you think I would just leave you there to die like that? Knowing what they would do to you?"

"It's an occupational hazard."

Those blue eyes burned at him, fire bright and oh how they glittered when Flynn was enraged.

"Beside, you almost did once before."

The flames extinguished and Yuri was a little sad to see them go. "That... this is different than that. Things have changed."

"Oh?” Yuri drew close to him, ready for the fistfight he knew was coming. "What's changed?”

It surprised him when Flynn didn't hit him. The thing that Flynn did do surprised him more than he could tell, but he took it in stride.

* * *

 

His realization that night in Dahngrest had done little to quench the flames of his thirst now that he knew what was making his mouth so dry, and it did little to help him sleep. He had tossed and turned all that night and the two nights since, trying to convince himself that he was not attracted to Yuri at all, or at the very least, that he shouldn't be. He was a member of the Union, Flynn's enemy, and a criminal. But those labels Flynn had given him were quickly fading away and all that remained was Yuri. Strong, graceful, tough, unstoppable.

The journey to Caer Bocram had only proved to turn his attraction into full blown desire. Desire was a strange thing that Flynn could not recall ever having felt before. He had wanted things before: a good career, to make his father proud, to serve the Empire, but desire was different. It was heavy and sweet with a bitter tone and it made him feel hungry, but not for food. He couldn't decide if he loved the feeling or loathed it. It was a strange mix that he didn't understand. Desire made him do stupid, impetuous things, like grab Yuri and push him up against a tree, kissing him.

He had been longing to for days now, unsure of how to do it, whether or not to act on his urges, was this normal, was it okay to feel this way? He burned for a taste of those lips again and as soon as he got it, he felt lightheaded and the world seemed surreal. He pulled back after only a second, leaving it brief and chaste, but the dark haired man wrapped his arms across Flynn's shoulders, holding him steady with a hand firm against his back.

"Oh. I get it." The guildsman smiled, tilting his head only a few degrees to the left, his eyes dark and mischievous and beautiful. "You want to have sex with me."

He blushed hard, his face fire hot. He fumbled for words to agree, to decline, to explain, to say anything but it was all lost in the jumble of his thoughts. "No! I... I don't know what I want from you." Even as he said that, he leaned in, pressing his weight against Yuri once more. He kissed him again, and then a second time, inexperienced and sloppy, but he didn't care as the sensation was driving him insane. He didn't know what he wanted, but he wanted Yuri Lowell.

Yuri seemed to reciprocate, at least a little, as he didn't fight back, instead allowing Flynn to continue. He tilted his head a little further, opening his mouth, and pressed the tip of his tongue against Flynn's clumsy lips. It took him a moment to respond, to open his own mouth and allow the play of their tongues between them.

The tingling rushed him, threatening to overwhelm him, and he reached up, grabbing a fist full of Yuri's silken black hair. It was much softer than he had imagined.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Yuri pulled back, leaning against the tree.

Flynn pushed in, wanting to continue even if his body had no idea what it was doing, but Yuri stopped him.

"Let's make a deal, then."

“What?" He was impatient and didn't actually care. He felt like he would agree to just about anything for another taste of those lips and to maybe run his hands along the damp fabric of Yuri's shirt, feeling the skin just underneath.

"Give me my freedom and I'm yours."

Flynn did a double take, but Yuri was serious. He felt suddenly ill, his stomach churning. He wanted to say yes, but he knew he couldn't. That would be dereliction of duty, putting his personal wants and desires over what was expected of him as a knight. No one would have to know. After all this was over and Ioder saved and Zaphias retaken, he could simply say the guildsman beat him and escaped. It would be so simple and no one would have to know. But Flynn would know and he knew that if he gave in, he would never be able to forgive himself. He would have betrayed himself and his beliefs, and his father and everything he held dear as a knight for a single tryst with this guildsman. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

On the other hand, he could lie to Yuri, but it was unacceptable for the same reason. It would go against everything he believed in. Yuri was a criminal, and he wouldn't let his desire change the rule of law in his own heart.

Flynn let his arms droop and slowly fall to his sides. As badly as he wanted Yuri, he couldn't.

"I'll let you think on it then." Yuri must have seen the apprehension that Flynn was surely showing. He pulled Flynn into one last kiss, hot and hungry, before pulling back to put his vest and belt back on. "The offer stands for now."

His knees threatened to collapse beneath him. He was frozen in place. He didn't want to move. He wanted to stay there and take the time to sort out in his mind what was right and what was wrong and carefully renew the labels he had on everything that Yuri had called him on. They were slipping away with such incredible speed.

Flynn pulled himself back together after a long moment and pulled his shirt back on. Once collected, they continued on toward Dahngrest, still a day's walk away.

* * *

 

They rested only once or twice more, never sleeping, before they reached Dahngrest. He was both relieved and agitated.

Karol had been waiting for them to arrive, and rushed Yuri, throwing his arms around him and nearly tackling him on the bridge that led into town. Repede followed, barking happily and wagging his tail. He piled on also, licking Yuri's face happily. "We're so glad you're safe!"

"Hey. No need to be worried. Flynn and I handled those stupid knights with no problem at all." He wouldn't tell him how he had been captured and taken to the place where he surely would have died without the aid of the girl who obviously had some sort of feelings for Flynn. Flynn had to have known that he was lying to protect Karol's innocence at this point, since he didn't speak up. There was no reason a boy of twelve should have to see the horrors of war that Yuri had. He would learn the truth when he was old enough to understand.

After a moment of celebration, Repede moved on to greet Flynn with a bit less jubilation.

"You'll never believe what happened!" Karol didn't give Yuri a chance to even guess. "We were on our way back when we got grabbed by a dragon!"

"What?"

"We stopped for the night, but we got attacked and this brown dragon came and defeated the monsters and brought us back here."

"Wow. Are the girls okay?" He didn't dismiss what the boy told him. Karol might exaggerate sometimes, but over something so serious he wouldn't lie. He was being truthful and Yuri believed him.

"They're fine! They went to talk to the Don because we didn't know when you'd be back. What took you so long?"

"We got sidetracked near Heliord." He had a story ready in case. "We fought a huge monster in the woods there. It was awesome. I wish you could have been there to help out."

"Oh, okay." The boy pouted a moment about missing the chance at the fictitious fight.

"We should probably go meet with the Don also." Flynn spoke up, petting Repede, importance in his tone. No doubt he was worried about Estelle being by herself in what he surely considered to be unsafe territory.

"He's probably in his office having lunch." Yuri brushed himself off, pulling a twig out of his hair and the four of them walked through town toward the Sagittarius. The tavern was lively, packed with people that Yuri had to squeeze between to get to the open door on the right side of the building. Before he even entered, he could hear the Don's thunderous laughter, and a huge hand slapping his equally large knee.

"Well, at least it seems like he's in good spirits.” He sighed, knowing that probably meant a few pints of ale with his lunch. Not that the man couldn't hold his liquor. That was something that Yuri hadn't been able to best him at, in spite of their numerous bouts. Don Whitehorse was the hardest fighting, hardest drinking man in the whole world and Yuri respected him for that among everything else.

He entered to find the Don sitting on one of the sofas across from Estelle and Rita, a half eaten feast and a pitcher of ale laid out before them. Estelle and Rita both had tea, and while the mage seemed incredibly uncomfortable, Estelle was in her element. She was talking with the Don about this and that as if he was no different than a noble of Zaphias. She spoke with such friendliness and warmth that it seemed to melt the old man's heart.

"Nice of ya ta finally join us!" The Don noticed them, waving a hand for them to enter and sit down. "What took ya?"

"You know. The usual." Yuri plopped down on the sofa next to him, grabbing a croquette and started to eat. His stomach was growling at him, threatening to eat itself if he didn't put food in it soon. They hadn't stopped to make camp and he had eaten very little since their arrival at Caer Bocram. He grabbed a bowl of soup as soon as he finished, eager to quiet his stomach, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Karol sat down next to him and Flynn sat down with Rita and Estelle.

"Ya got some interestin' lady friends here." He took a swig of his ale before continuing. "Pity ya aren't exactly the marryin' type! I'd love ta see some great grand kids before I've breathed my last."

Yuri rolled with it. He was teased pretty regularly for his taste in company and he didn't mind. "If I had kids, they'd all be horrid little monsters like I was."

The old man got a hearty laugh out of that. He calmed after a moment. "But onta more serious matters. These young ladies say ya witnessed a huge monster being kept in Caer Bocram."

"That's right. He was as big as the Lord of the Plains. It looks like the Knights were using a reverse barrier to keep him in there. We overheard a conversation where a very interesting name came up."

"That so?" The Don cocked his head to one side, clasping his chin in one hand. "Name wouldnta been 'Garista Luodor', would it?"

"The same."

Rita let out a growl that startled even the Don a little, slamming down her teacup. "That jerk! I know he's up to no good!"

"What do you mean, Rita?" Estelle asked

"A few years ago, he stole some of my blastia cores and turned them into weapons. The barrier blastia at Ehmead Hill was one of my stolen cores placed in another blastia that he'd adjusted with a series of weird formulas. And the blastia we found at Ragou's mansion, too. He's manipulating blastia in ways that shouldn't work and for reasons he shouldn't be!"

"It is widely known that he is a proponent for the use of blastia powered weapons, as well as being the man who pioneered much of the technology we have today. Much of his current research is strictly confidential, although I have no idea what he would be doing with a monster of such proportions." Flynn added."He is one of Alexei's top researchers, and it's not too far to assume that he, or at least his research, could be behind what's happening in the palace." Flynn's father could have died during a test run against a monster that was attacking Zaphias years ago during the war. He had survived because he had been promoted not long before the incident, and Garista had been praised for his new weapon's abilities.

"So you think it might be his research that's allowing Alexei to use Ioder as a blastia?"

Flynn sighed a little and looked down. It was obvious that his brief and tumultuous journey had shaken his faith in the government he had given his life to serve. "I can't say for certain, but it is definitely a possibility."

"That's pretty interestin'." Don Whitehorse stood, and moved behind his desk, briefly shifting through some papers there. He picked a piece up, reading it for a moment before lifting his head to them. "Ya've done yer part. I need to confer with the other members of the Union and reach a consensus. Get some rest and we'll get back to ya when we've reached a verdict."

"Thank you for your kind consideration." Estelle stood, and Rita followed her out. Flynn, Repede, and Karol left next, chatting about getting a meal in.

Yuri hung back for a moment, waiting for them to leave. After they had gone, Yuri moved behind the desk as well, leaning against one edge while staring at the tapestry of Altosk's emblem on the back wall. "What about Barbos?”

"I've reached the limit of my patience with him."

"Just say the word."

"Get some rest. Ya've done enough."

"I'll be waiting." He slipped out of the Don's office, shutting the door before joining the others at a table nearby where Flynn and Karol were enjoying lunch. He ordered a parfait, but his stomach was no longer screaming at him to eat. His hunger was placed elsewhere. His brief make out session with the uptight blond knight had left him wanting more, and he wondered if Flynn was as hungry as he was, how long he would hold out. Yuri's offer still stood between them like a carrot in front of a rabbit and he waited for Flynn to take the bait. How long would his morals hold out if he desired Yuri as much as he had made clear? How long would his knightly virtues keep him from temptation? If not Flynn, there were other suitable partners who would gladly satisfy his hunger for flesh.

"What happened in Caer Bocram? It took you both a long time to get back."

"We had to fight a big monster on the way back. He was pretty tough." Yuri didn't hesitate from digging into his parfait as soon as it arrived, finishing it in only a few bites.

Again, Flynn didn't argue. It would have looked suspicious.

"What's this I heard about a dragon?"

Estelle perked up. "Oh! I guess Karol told you. It was so strange. We were fighting some monsters and suddenly this brown and white dragon lands in front of us and blew the monsters away with a mighty breath. It beckoned us onto its back and flew us here. It was really very strange, though."

"What was?"

"I'm certain that I heard it talk. It sounded... human."

"Well that's weird." He stood, letting the chair skid across the floor behind him. "So how about that tour of Dahngrest I promised you? Karol can take the lead. He knows a lot about the city."

"Really, Yuri?! Awesome!" The boy skipped on ahead, nearly leaving them behind.

"That sounds wonderful."

"Whatever."


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Notes: Oh yeah, there's an 'M' rating on this fic for a reason. :D

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

Throughout the whole tour of the city, Flynn tried not to stare at Yuri. It was much more difficult than it had been before, now that with every moment he thought of those few moments in the woods after their escape from Heliord. Those lips and eyes and hair called to him and caused him to fall behind a little as Karol led them through town, pointing out landmarks like the inn, shops, the library, and his own home.

It was dusk when they arrived back at the Sagittarius. Yuri cooked them all a simple dinner that Raven showed up for just in time to eat. Afterward, Estellise and Rita did the dishes and then excused themselves to go to the library for some reading up. Estellise wanted to see if she could find any information on the dragon she had told them about earlier, and Rita followed along with little argument.

Flynn felt so strangely out of place as he sat on the couch while Raven and Karol chatted. He was acutely aware that Yuri was no longer in the room, and for some reason felt a mix of relief and agitation over the fact.

"Well, good night, guys." Yuri drifted through the room and to the front door, looking back at them briefly. He was freshly showered, his hair dripping all over the floor as he walked and he was dressed in his normal outfit, just a clean set. Something was different. "Need me to walk you home, Karol?"

"I'll make sure the kid gets home safe." Raven draped one arm over Karol's shoulder and waved at Yuri with the other. "Have fun."

The dark haired man smirked and opened the door. "Make sure Flynn doesn't make a mess while I'm gone, Repede."

The dog barked behind him and Yuri left before Flynn could question him.

"Where's he going?" He posed the question to Karol and Raven.

"He's going to see one of his shiny friends."

"What do you mean?"

Raven patted Karol, pushing him off the couch. "Go ahead and head down. I'll join you in a minute."

"Okay, Raven!" Karol trotted to the door and called "Good night, Flynn!" as he tromped down the stairs.

"Where is he really going?"

Raven smiled, thin and fox-like and looked down at Flynn with half-lidded, ice blue eyes. "Kid's too young ta understand, but he's off ta toss the sheets with one a 'those' friends. He'll be back in the morning. Always is."

Flynn's fingers dug into the arm of the couch, nails nearly ripping through the threadbare fabric as a strange rage filled his body. "Where is he going?"

"Usually meets them at the inn."

He was off the couch before Raven even left. They didn't have time for this, even if they were waiting on the Don's verdict. He convinced himself that that was surely the reason he felt so angry and bothered and hot all of a sudden and it wasn't jealousy at all. He had no reason to be jealous. That moment in the woods had been nothing for either of them. It had been a case of mutual attraction that Yuri was trying to bend to his own devices and Flynn wasn't falling for.

Flynn had never wanted something so badly in his entire life. He had never cared about having his affections and touches and biting frustrations returned. He had never wanted anyone, or anything, like he wanted Yuri Lowell.

It took everything that he had, every shred of will to resist grabbing the man and making his desires and intentions very painfully clear. He had to remind himself that they might be cooperating, but Yuri was from Dahngrest. He worked for Altosk. He was the grandson of the Don, leader of the Union. And he was the enemy. But late at night, when he lay awake thinking about what it would be like to run his fingers through that dark hair and trace each scar that marred that pale skin and hear that voice call out in pleasure, he forgot all that. At night, they were just two people, their bonds and burdens forgotten. He was Flynn and the object of his desire was Yuri. One thing was certain. Yuri had ignited something in Flynn like he had never known.

Yuri teased, but he made it clear that he was not terribly interested unless it involved a little quid pro quo on Flynn's part. He wanted freedom, and was willing to do what he needed to get it, but he didn't long for the Flynn the way he was longed after. Maybe he could convince Yuri to do the deed with him, but he knew that it wouldn't be the same unless Yuri wanted him too.

Why was he so frustrating?!

He remembered where the inn was from their tour earlier that day and stormed through the door. He scanned the front desk quickly, but Yuri wasn't there. Was he too late?

Flynn moved on after a moment, slipping past a few patrons, behind the stairs to check the hall on the first floor. He nearly ran down the hallway, but the door to each room was open and the rooms themselves empty. He doubled back, sprinting up the stairs to check the second floor hall.

There, pressed against the wall of the hallway was Yuri, limbs tangled around a tall blond. Their tongues fought in an intricate dance between their mouths, and a small gasp escaped from Yuri when the man pressed against him harder, pulling on his hair.

Flynn wanted to be there. He wanted to be the one with his lips against Yuri's, his hands tangled in the dark curtain of Yuri's hair. He wanted to be the one pinning him against the wall, so closely that their two bodies could hardly be separated. He wanted the rush of blood and heat and adrenaline that was akin to battle and yet so different, so sweet and heady that just the idea of it made him lightheaded once more.

"Flynn, what the hell?!" Yuri grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pushing him backwards. How long had he been there staring?

He was stunned and silent, and apparently the other man was as well.

Yuri was visibly upset, although Flynn shouldn't have been as surprised by that as he was. The man said something to Yuri that Flynn didn't catch, and turned and left. Yuri called out to him once, cursing Flynn, and then shoved him up against the wall.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"I... I just...." He wanted everything to just come gushing out of him, but instead he grabbed Yuri's face in his hands and kissed him. He didn't think about the taste that the other man had left in Yuri's mouth that he knew wasn't what he remembered.

"So, you made your choice?" Yuri pulled back, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I can't. I can't promise you something that I can't give for something that I want."

Rather than the anger he had expected, the dark haired man kissed him hungrily, pulling back to breathe and then again. "Since you're so honest, I guess I'll give you a reward." His hand moved deftly to the waist band of Flynn's pants, unlatching his belt with a click. Yuri lingered for a second, teasing him with hot, messy kisses on his lips and down his neck.

Flynn gasped as Yuri's hand slipped between his flesh and the fabric of his pants and those long, pale fingers curled around his cock. He was hard in an instant.

He moaned a little, biting his lip to keep from making too much noise. His eyes rolled back into his head as the simple, powerful touches, the feeling of those fingers threatened to drown out all of his thoughts. He tried not to thrust against Yuri's hand as it moved, the fingers of his own hands digging into the the wood of the hallway wall. He tried to focus, to not lose himself in pleasure. He didn't even care that someone could easily come up the stairs and see them. He didn't care about anything else but this moment of pleasure and how he wanted to return the favor. Flynn never knew being touched by another human being was so amazing.

The burning kisses continued, and the rhythm of things was beginning to take over. The tension in his spine was building and he knew that his climax was close. His moans had grown louder as much as he tried to keep his voice down. Yuri leaned in, pressing all his weight against him, squeezing tightly with his hand and nibbling on the lobe of his ear.

His hand stopped abruptly and he whispered, "I'm the enemy, remember?"

A cold guilt fell heavily in his stomach and the pleasure that he was feeling slipped away as Yuri pulled away, leaving him incomplete. The dark haired man turned and strode down the hall, disappearing down the stairs.

Flynn's mouth was so dry and he felt even more hollow and filled with anger as he collected himself and managed to walk back to Yuri's apartment. His clothing felt so tight and unnatural and he tore it off as soon as he got there. He found a shower room adjoining Yuri's bedroom and cranked the water on as cold as it would go. It didn't help.

When that proved useless, he took matters into his own hands, leaning back into the icy cold tile wall. He pretended it was Yuri around him, his hand or his mouth or for god's sake anything. He thought about them kissing again and the heat coming off of Yuri's pale skin and his hair brushing against bits of Flynn's skin as he moved. He imagined what Yuri's moans would be like to drown out his own that the shower wasn't keeping him from hearing. Even with his climax, he was still so angry.

His energy drained out of him and he pulled himself out of the shower. He managed to pull his clothing back on, but it still made him feel so incredibly trapped.

He was too tired to move to the couch to sleep, and instead collapsed on Yuri's unmade bed. He rolled restlessly in the sheets, pulling them to his nose and breathing deep the scent of the man that he desired so much and couldn't have. It was sweet and spicy, earthy and ethereal and it did little to clear the muddle in his head. He didn't care. He just wanted to sleep.

* * *

 

He took a deep sigh of relief as the stress left his bruised and bite marked body. The contact that he had found was enough to satisfy his hunger for now, although given a little time, it would return. Perhaps another round of passion would stave it off a little longer this time. He rolled over and straddled the blond man, who wasted no time in leaving more hungry bite marks down his neck and over his collarbone.

"Already ready to go again?"

"Give me a few minutes and I will be."

Yuri opened his legs a little wider, closing the gap between them. This was good. It wasn't like he was still thinking about that stupid knight who followed him like a puppy only to tell him that he couldn't give Yuri want he wanted. He had played a dirty trick on poor Flynn and probably left him angry, but Yuri didn't really mind. That would probably keep the attractive blond away from him for a while. He didn't need to be having a physical relationship with an Imperial Knight, especially when said knight was a virgin of incredulous proportions.

He wrapped his arms around his current partner, gasping as the man's fingernails raked down his back.

"What was that?"

Yuri hadn't heard the noise he was talking about, but after a second, it came again. It was the tink of a pebble on the glass window. He sighed. He knew what that sound meant.

"I hate to cut things short, but it looks like I'm needed." He stood, relishing the bit of warmth remaining on his skin, but hating that it had to end. He pulled on his clothing that littered the floor.

"Wouldn't be that idiot from earlier, would it?" The blond leaned back against the headboard of the bed.

Yuri chuckled. "No. It's more important than that."

"Can I see you again soon?"

"I'm not sure when I'll be back." Even if he returned to Dahngrest soon, he didn't like the idea of getting too close to any one of his multiple partners. He didn't want them becoming attached to him when he had no romantic interest in them at all, and to his advantage, they didn't seem to have much of a romantic interest in him either. These were relationships built on mutual physical attraction and little else.

He left without another word and moved out of the quiet inn to the street outside. Raven was standing there with a handful of pebbles, ready to continue his tiny assault on the window if Yuri hadn't come out after a few moments.

"There ya are." He tossed the pebbles over one shoulder and smiled crookedly. "Sorry ta interrupt yer fun."

"It's fine. I suppose Gramps wants to see me."

"That's right."

Yuri followed Raven to the Sagittarius and into the Don's office with the quiet of the city night all around them. He had made this walk many times before, knowing each time what the Don would say and what would be expected of him. Raven left them alone in the office, shutting the door behind him and standing watch outside the way he always did. Don Whitehorse was seated behind his desk, watching Yuri as he moved to stand in front of him.

"Barbos of the Blood Alliance is out of control. As a member of the Union, his actions are inexcusable."

"What is your ruling?"

"Enforce the laws of the Union. Those who break the laws of the Union must be punished." It pained him every time he said those necessary words.

"As you wish."

"You're stuck with a job no one much wants."

Yuri turned, his fingers tightening on the cord that held the scabbard of his sword. "Someone's got to do it. And I owe you this much."

"Take care of yerself."

"I'll be back."

He left the city of Dahngrest and didn't look back. If he moved swiftly, he could be to the dark tower that loomed in the distance before dawn. As he strode across the plains and into the desert, he fixed his eyes on the brightest star in the night sky. "Looks like it's just you and me."


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey, Flynn! Flynn!"

He stirred a little, curling further into the bedsheets. He wasn't ready to get up yet, and all the loud crashing and shouting from the world of his dreams wasn't about to change that. It was inevitable as Karol reached across the bed and shook him hard.

"Flynn, wake up!"

He finally rolled to sit up, looking at the boy, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong, Karol?"

"Why are you sleeping in Yuri's bed?" The boy tilted his head innocently and Flynn was glad that he had remembered to get dressed again after his shower of release and frustration the night before.

"Well, I--"

"Never mind! Yuri's been missing all morning and the barrier blastia core was stolen! He's probably on the trail of the thief."

"Actually, the boy's off doin' somethin' for the Don. He'll be back later." Raven slid in and briefly eyed Flynn, probably suspecting much more than what had actually happened. He didn't say anything about it either way. "But the core of our barrier blastia is indeed missin'."

Flynn was out of bed in a flash, throwing on his sword belt and boots, paying no mind to the sleep roughened state of his clothing and hair. A glance out of the window provided the source of all the noise. Monsters were filling the city streets, driven back by the imposing form of Don Whitehorse and other guild members. They rushed out to join them and found Rita flinging fireballs into the horde and Estellise tending to the injured and doing her fair share of fighting in between.

He pushed himself into the fray and felt oddly at home. His tension and worries melted away and he could focus on something other than Yuri for the first time in days. He swung, felling one monster after another. He tried to stay fluid while maintaining his defense like Yuri had suggested, and found that moving came a little easier. He was able to keep his focus all around himself instead of just on the enemy in front. It was a fight at first to not stay in one place for too long. Yuri had issued an ominous warning about fighting against Zagi and Flynn knew that he would have to battle the madman again, but he would be ready.

Repede sounded out in a howl, and dove into the swarm of monsters, knife clenched between his sharp teeth.

Flynn was immediately left to wonder what sort of mission Yuri was on that would have caused him to leave Repede behind. The partners were nearly inseparable. What would have prompted the sudden separation?

"Run these monsters outta town, lads!" The Don called out over the din and a stampede followed his order, guildsmen and women armed with whatever they had, chasing the horde of monsters toward the exits of town.

As soon as they were free from the fight, Estellise rushed to his side, healing him of the few cuts and bruises that were forming across his body. "I've heard the barrier blastia core was stolen."

"That's what Karol and Raven said as well. It would definitely explain all of the monsters."

"I wonder if it's the blastia thief that Yuri was looking for in Zaphias." She watched as Karol and Rita joined them, and Raven and Repede came back from battle a few seconds later. "I want to find the person responsible for this and recover the barrier blastia core."

Repede growled a bit, pointing his gaze toward the northeast.

"I think the pooch has the trail of our thief."

"Let's go then." She seemed excited and determined. He wanted to argue, to tell her that there was no time, but he knew it was the proper thing to do. No city, even one that was an enemy of the Empire, deserved to be without a barrier to protect it from the ever lurking threat of monsters. Perhaps this would be her repayment to Yuri for his helping them.

So they set off behind Repede, who tracked the invisible scent through the town and out of the safety of the city. To the northeast, looming in the distance of the desert was a dark tower, standing stark black against the blue sky.

"What is this place?"

"I'm not really sure," Karol said, checking his map. "It's not marked on any map I've ever seen, but it's been there as long as I can remember."

"It's called Ghasfarost, or the Tower of Gears." Raven leaned back, entwining his fingers behind his head. "It's the stronghold of the Blood Alliance, one of the five master guilds of the Union. And I can tell you, Barbos isn't going to be too happy to see us."

"Why would the thief's scent lead us here?"

The scruffy old man didn't answer. Flynn could guess as much. If corruption was possible within the Empire, why not within the Union? It wasn't far from belief.

Something in Flynn's stomach made him feel uneasy. He thought briefly that it could have been the breakfast that he had missed, but this was different than a simple skipped meal. This was worrisome and heavy, nibbling away at his insides like something was wrong, but he couldn't place just what. A fleeting thought took him back to were Yuri might have been at this moment, on a mission for the Don, but he turned back to the looming tower. They had a task at hand and, as helpful as Yuri had proven himself previously, he wasn't here to help this time.

* * *

 

Another day, another jail cell. He didn't fight back after they apprehended him at the front gates. It would be easier to infiltrate from the inside anyway and luckily, those who had taken him into custody weren't the brightest bunch. He could say that about most mercenaries, though. Either way, they hadn't recognized him, and only caught him snooping. His true intentions there remained a secret, and he only had to wait for the right time to escape. As he heard the guards approaching, he prepared. That time could be now.

But the cell door swung open, and before he had time to react, a figure in white, angular armor, struggling with the guards, was thrown in. He recognized that strange armor as the same as the set worn by the dragon rider who had shown up and destroyed the blastia at two different locations.

Even after being thrown in, the figure charged the door just as the guards were closing it, shoulder down to barrel through. This person was fast, even when wearing the bulky armor, but the door was slammed in his face, sending him backward against the stone floor once more. The figure slammed his fist into the metal door, leaving a dent, but the door stood steady.

"What are you in for?"

The figure turned to him, and for the first time, he could see a crimson eye staring at him through a crack in the metal. After a moment of silent hesitation, the person removed the peaked helmet, releasing a pair of long, blue feathered antenna, and a familiar feminine face framed with lavender hair.

"Fancy seeing you here, Yuri." The Krityan woman smiled, and wasted no time removing the rest of the armor.

"Judy?" He was more surprised than he showed. He had known Judy—or really Judith, but he found this name too long to bother with—for a little over a year now. Between drinking and bar brawls, they found common ground, and he believed her to be a globe trotting researcher who found herself in Dahngrest for a drink and a game of cards every few weeks. She was a skilled fighter by all that he had ever known, and one of the few people who could return anything in a fight that he could dish out. But if she was the dragon rider, which he didn't doubt after seeing her in that armor, this changed things pretty substantially.

"Surprise." Judith pulled off the heavy chest plate and tossed it into a corner and seemed relieved for it. She wore the outfit he always saw her in, white and blue form fitting clothing with gold trim, revealing by most standards. "I suppose I have some explaining to do."

"Well, it's no secret now that you're the dragon rider destroying the blastia. Why?"

"I won't deny that. I destroyed the blastias at Ehmead Hill, Capua Nor, and Caer Bocram, but I'm afraid that I can't tell you why. Only that it is my mission."

"What are you doing here?"

"My partner and I found out that there was another one here that I have to destroy. Unfortunately, we were shot down."

"Your partner? That dragon?"

"Yes. His name is Ba'ul. We have a relationship much like yours with Repede."

He nodded. This whole thing didn't seem to be making a lot of sense just yet, but he knew that she was a bad liar and that she could be trusted, at least for now.

"And what are you doing here?"

"I'm on a mission also." If he left it at that, surely she would understand that it was something he couldn't tell her, and she nodded in acceptance. "I'm ready to get out of here if you are."

"What's the plan?"

He was without a lock pick this time. They would have to get the guards to open the door, but that would be no small task. When the idea came to him, though, he knew that it would work. "I've got an idea."

"Okay."

Yuri curled his left hand into a fist and punched her. She spun, a little surprised, but once she realized a second later what was happening, she recoiled, and struck back swiftly. It didn't take long for this to dissolve into one of their numerous bar brawls, complete with kicking, shouting, and hair pulling. She was tough and he admired that about her. She returned blow for blow with no hesitation and no problem.

"What's all that racket?!"

Just as he had planned, a pair of guards came racing to the cell door, and he turned briefly and winked at Judith, who punched him one last time for good measure. The door opened as her fist made contact with his cheek and the guards entered, and he let his footing slip. He very purposefully hit the ground.

"Get this psycho away from me!"

"I've had enough of you!" She approached swiftly, fist pulled back like she was ready for another assault, and the guards came in behind her.

"Cut it out, both of you!"

Instead of punching him again, Judith opened her fist at the last moment, and pulled Yuri to his feet. She gave him just enough of an opening to her left for him to throw a punch and hit the approaching guard in the nose. He flew a few feet and hit the opposite stone wall before crumpling to the floor. The second guard rushed them, spear at the ready, but their synchronized movements were already planned. Judith hopped up and did a handstand on his shoulders. With a quick back flip, she landed on the guard's shoulders and, using her knees, snapped the man's neck.

"Well, shall we be off?" She high fived him and then brushed off her gloved hands as if the skirmish had been a mere inconvenience to her. Had he been sexually interested in women, he was pretty sure Judy would be his type.

She took the spear from the guard she had ended, examining it carefully. "This'll do. So, where are your friends?"

"This is something I had to do alone."

"I see."

Yuri grabbed the sword from the fallen mercenary to use temporarily. It was heavy and awkward in his hands, but he would have to make do until he located his own equipment. He searched the man further and found a set of keys. He moved out of the cell, and she followed him into the main foyer. He knew that they were in the basement, and he remembered much of the march down here. The idiots that worked here thought so little of him that they hadn't thought he would memorize the route. But he had.

"I need to get to the roof."

"Funny." He smirked, peeking into one of the nearby store rooms. "Me, too."

"Why don't we stick together for now then?"

"Sounds like a plan." He knew their objectives weren't the same, but were probably close enough. Somehow, he always felt that she could see right through him and now had an inkling about what his purpose was there.

They moved quietly into the store room, where Yuri found his proper equipment in a nearby chest. Judith was not so lucky, so she merely traded her temporary weapon for one of a better quality. Once back in the main floor, they headed up a set of metal stairs to the platforms above. All around them, gears of all sizes whirred and ground. As they came off the stairs, he could see a huge glass tube, filled with green aer that moved in swirling clouds as it was pumped upward toward the roof and their objectives.

"All this aer...."

"It's probably being sucked out of the earth to power the blastia you're here for. But what kind of blastia needs this much?"

"This is only enough to get it started. It will require much more for long term powering." Judith pulled her hand back from the warm glass tube and looked upward, her crimson eyes following the trail of aer. His question remained unanswered and he didn't bother to ask it again. She had avoided it on purpose and he allowed her that.

Yuri lead the way up another flight of stairs. There was a set of guards that they dispatched easily but it was a lot less heavily guarded than he expected of Barbos. The glass tube ran through the center of the room, from the floor below all the way up, and more than once, he caught Judith staring at the whirls of aer within. Even though she wouldn't say it, it was obvious that the sight of it seemed to worry her. He had more questions about why she was targeting blastia, but chose to let her keep her mission to herself. After all, he had to keep his to himself, too.

"How much further is it?" She asked, examining what looked like a control panel near the tube.

"Another floor up before we reach the main gate. After that, I'm not sure. This tower is pretty tall."

"I see."

"So, what happened to your partner?"

"When we tried to destroy the blastia earlier, he got injured in the firefight that followed. He retreated to allow his wounds to heal and I chose to continue on with the mission. At this point, he has done all he can. It is my responsibility from here."

He nodded mutely, unsure of what else to say. He had been a little curious, but was mostly making conversation to while away the quiet that the sound of the mechanics of the tower didn't drown out. He was glad however that her partner was okay, if indeed they did share a relationship much like his and Repede's. He and the warrior dog had been nearly inseparable in the four years since the events at Ceazontania.

Thinking about that place brought his thoughts back to Flynn. He thought a prudish blond like that would have been someone that he would have remembered without fail from that particular time, but that had been a time when a lot else had been going on in his life.

A series of crashes and shouts from the floor above broke his train of thought. He rounded a corner, peeking through the wall of gears. A mercenary flew by their position, clattering down the steps in a heap of armor. They moved quietly to the next floor, encountering no other guards until they found an open doorway that led to the stone walkway outside. The way to the top couldn't be much further. He did recall seeing a set of ladders that led up to the uppermost platform on the front of the tower and was grateful for his observational skills.

Guards swarmed the archway, but their attention wasn't on Yuri and Judith. He took advantage of this and cut through their sloppy ranks from behind. The doorway clear, he started to exit when a crackling whoosh caused him to pull back at the last second and he stopped just short of getting hit with a fireball.

"Yuri!" Karol called out from across the stone walkway as he knocked a mercenary over the railing with his massive sword. Flynn and the others were finishing off the last of the other guards and Yuri was overcome by a moment of internal panic.

What were they doing here? What was /Karol/ doing here? Everything was in jeopardy now. His mission, his secrets, everything. Had it been he and Judith alone and he had gone through with his mission, there probably wouldn't have been a problem. But this, this was a big problem. His brain scrambled for solutions, answers, anything. How was he going to complete his mission and still save face? Everything had changed suddenly and things were looking bad faster than he could think. For all the things he'd planned for, the arrival of the rest of the party was not one of them.

"We didn't know you'd be here."

"Yeah, well I--"

"You were chasing the thief who look the barrier blastia core, right?" Karol was bright eyed and hopeful that his hero, Yuri, had been in pursuit of the culprit long before anyone else.

That was news to Yuri, but he played it cool. "Of course." He had suspected that Barbos was connected to the blastia thief since the incident in Nor Harbor, but this confirmed his suspicions. The others must have followed Repede here, tracking the scent of the thief, and if Barbos had the barrier blastia core from Dahngrest, things were worse than he had suspected.

"Why did you come alone?" Flynn had to have caught on that something was strange, or he was still mad about the night before. Or both. Either way, it was no secret that he was mad.

Judith thankfully interjected. "I know I've met you, Flynn, but I don't believe I got to meet the rest of you last time. My name is Judith. I'm a friend of Yuri's."

"So you use a spear, too." Rita moved in to examine Judith and her choice of weapon closely, tapping her chin.

"Do you know someone else who does?" It was a common weapon.

"Yeah. Some dragon riding freak that is aching for a clobbering. Seen anyone like that around?"

The Krityan smiled pleasantly, folding her hands behind her back. "I'm afraid not."

"I'm Estelle and this is Rita." The princess took to introducing them both when Rita moved on to what she would have deemed more interesting things. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Judith."

"Hey there, beautiful. The name's Ra-"

"We've already met, Raven."

He sighed in disappointment.

"So what were you doing here anyway?" The mage turned back.

"She got captured while on a research trip." Yuri saved her this time.

"Well, the Kritya do love their research."

Judith shot him a smile as thanks, before changing the topic of conversation. "What's this about a blastia thief?"

"Dahngrest's barrier blastia core was stolen this morning."

"But why did you all come here?" Yuri rocked back on one heel. The tone that he took was perhaps more stern than he intended and Karol and Estelle both dropped their heads a little.

Estelle fumbled for a moment and then straightened herself up. "I wanted to do the right thing and capture the blastia thief. And also to thank you for all you've done. I thought that together we'd have a better chance of catching the person who committed this heinous act and endangered the lives of the people of Dahngrest."

"Why do you care? Dahngrest is the enemy of the Empire."

Flynn moved forward to start complaining about Yuri's tone, but Estelle stopped him.

"We may be at war, but the people of the city of Dahngrest deserve as much as anyone else the protection that comes with the barrier. I won't sit by when people are suffering, no matter what side they're on."

A smile tugged at this lips but he turned before she could see it. "We should keep moving. I don't feel like getting on the bad side of more of these goons." He shot a glance at Raven, who shrugged from the back of the party. The old man knew why he was here and had still let the others come, endangering his mission. It may not have been as cut and dry as that, but either way he had no time to worry now. He had to focus on Barbos and how he was going to complete his mission.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: I hate writing fight scenes. Why did I do a game rewrite when I knew that fight scenes would be necessary? Don't ask me. I don't even know.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

 

He mounted the ladder, climbing to the upper platform. The others followed, although he noticed Raven lagged behind a moment and he could hear him talking to someone. He urged the others forward and before he could go back, Raven had scrambled up the ladder, huffing and complaining about the ache in his bones.

The aer here was dense and they could all feel it. It was like Caer Bocram. They passed through the huge archway of gears to a broad, glass, gear-shaped platform and in the center of it was his target, Barbos, a man whose power and influence rivaled the Don's. They had been allies once, even friends before the start of the Union. But greed and pride could so easily shatter the bonds of friendship. Last night, the Don had given the ultimatum to not just strike down a member of the Union, but also a man who had once been a friend. Yuri knew that it was no easy task.

Barbos was surprised to see him, and none too happy.

"Whatyer ya doin' here?!"

"Oh, your guards were nice enough to let us in."

He turned to two of his lackeys. "You lot let him in here? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Sorry, sir. We arrested him at the front gate--"

The guild leader swung, knocking the mercenary straight off the tower and turned to do the same with the other one, who dodged in the nick of time. Barbos knew Yuri for what and who he was. The man wasn't stupid. He was sharp and shrewd. His men, however, had no idea who Yuri was. Common guild members who didn't spend time in Dahngrest wouldn't recognize him. But Barbos had to have known why he was here. There was only one possible reason. Even still, Barbos was confident. He had years of experience over Yuri.

Barbos raised his massive sword and tightened his stout fingers around the handle. The sword produced a revving sound, a long chain moved around the length of the blade, and in the center of the dark metal was a shining red orb.

"So, you're behind the barrier blastia core theft."

"With this sword and this tower, I'll tear Dahngrest right off the map and then I'll be the leader of the Union!"

"That's some delusion you've got there." Yuri drew his sword. "Give it up."

A broad, cocky smirk crossed the man's face. "I won't let the Don's hound take me down that easily."

Cold rage bubbled just below Yuri's surface, but he stayed calm outwardly. He had learned long ago that he wasn't some dog on a leash like the Knights of the Empire were, bound by 'obedience' and 'law'. Everything Yuri had done for the Don was of his own free will.

"He ever tell ya yer the spittin' image of his no good kid? Ya look a lot like the Don in his youth, too." This was a distraction, meant to fill his mind with questions and uncertainty, but Yuri was having none of it. "I guess ya'll end up doin' what she couldn't."

"Return the barrier blastia core and surrender!" Estelle was at his side quickly, her own sword ready for what would surely be a fight.

The stout man got a hearty laugh out of that and then revved his sword once more. "With this, I'm unstoppable!" The whir of the mechanics grew deafening as the chain circled the blade, throwing sparks, and suddenly the whole tower began moving.

They spun with the platform, yet Barbos remained stationary on a small gear in the center, laughing as they fought to maintain their balance and press forward to attack. The spinning forced Yuri to one knee, even as he fought against the pressure building in his bones. The others weren't faring much better. He didn't know how much longer they'd be able to hold out.

With a burst of flames, the platform stopped as quickly as it started, sending him flying across it. He was that much closer to Barbos now as he scrambled to his feet, trying to recover from his reeling head.

Barbos stood in the center of the platform, staring dumbfounded at the shattered and singed blade of his sword. He shook with a terrible rage and flung the remains of the sword at Yuri, missing only narrowly and shouting. "Come on then, ya horrible death hound! Even without that sword, I won't go quietly!" He drew from a holster on his back another sword with an equally huge and curved blade, but this was just a sword. He signaled with one hand and four bridges dropped from the guard towers and onto the platform.

Mercenaries rushed on the platform and they were overcome. He pushed through, trying to get to his target and complete the mission before the others realized what was happening, but the flood of guards was making that incredibly difficult. He had to stop them, and defeating them wasn't enough through their sheer numbers. He had to remove the source of them.

Yuri chopped through the mercenaries, making his way to one of the bridges that was affixed to the platform by two large metal spikes. The supports were embedded in the metal platform, and between fighting off the guards trying to cross and those on the level, he pushed against it with as much energy as he could. He struggled and shoved and the post collapsed into the mechanics of the tower. He quickly moved to repeat the process with the others. Repede watched his back, attacking guards as they tried to stop him, and after a moment, Karol realized what he was doing and followed along. Judith, Flynn, and Rita focused on the ones remaining on the platform until they either retreated or fell. Estelle threw support spells, healing the others as needed, as taking down more than a few guards of her own.

Barbos still stood in the middle of the platform, shouting and swearing and when he realized that his forces were dwindling, he wasted no time in coming after Yuri. Yuri was glad that he picked a moment to attack when the others were distracted. Maybe he would actually be able to complete his mission after all.

The guild leader swung at him with his massive sword, but Yuri rolled out of the way and slid swiftly behind him. The stout man turned, spinning with his sword like a top, catching Yuri in a parry.

"I won't let you take away everything I've worked for, ya mongrel!"

"A mongrel is the one that bites the hand that feeds him!" Yuri pressed all his weight against Barbos and his blade, hoping that he would shift slightly to more a beneficial footing for the movement. As soon as he did, Yuri dropped his sword and body, skidding across the glass, between the man's legs, and rolling up behind him.

Barbos was sent barreling forward but he recovered faster than Yuri expected of a man of his size. He swung at Yuri's legs this time, moving his sizable sword as if it weighed nothing. Yuri had to admit that he was very skilled and it was little wonder that he and Gramps had been rivals and friends. But Yuri had learned from the best in Dahngrest, on top of what he had picked up and modified from watching others fight, and the few basics he had taught himself. He and Gramps had more than one or two friendly bouts between them.

The huge man's movements became more frenzied, chopping through the air wildly, and punching forward with his mace hand. Yuri was focused, dodging each blow only barely, remaining flexible and using his sword for defense while he waited for an opening and for just the right peak in his energy. Cuts narrowly missed his vitals and much needed limbs. The guild leader surely thought that Yuri was struggling, floundering, but he wasn't. Even as a blow grazed his shoulder, ripping his vest and sending a spray of blood against his face, he held firm. Barbos gave him only a fraction of a second to move as he came charging like a Rhinosus, but Yuri sidestepped, raising and turning the blade of his sword so that he cut the guild leader across the upper portion of his mace arm. It fell limp and useless at Barbos's side. Now that his strength was halved, Yuri was at an advantage.

As he slid into a more offensive stance, he moved forward into his favored attack. He lunged, spinning faster than Barbos ever could. His blade struck blow after blow as fast as lightning. As soon as he placed his landing step, Judith came in at Barbos's side, hitting him with a flurry of powerful artes that sent him rolling. Rita's barrage of spells brought him to his knees. Flynn and Karol followed up and cornered him, panting and near collapsing against the edge of the platform.

"Surrender, Barbos." His grip tightened on his sword. At least if he surrendered, he could do the deed later. Even with him vulnerable now, he couldn't strike forward. Not in front of the others. Not in front of Karol. He hated that he was hesitating.

"Heh. Afraid to show yer friends what yer made of?" He struggled to stand, hand fumbling for his sword. "Mark my words, Yuri Lowell, one day you'll make great enemies and this world will consume you whole. Despair, hate, and regret will hound you all the way to hell and I'll be waiting there for you."

Yuri knew the man wasn't going to go easily. It would have been a struggle one way or another, but he had not expected what Barbos did next as he stared him down, waiting for another attack or a surrender. The guild leader took a step back and then another, until his heels were on the very edge of the roof.

"Barbos!"

"I'm going out on my terms." He took one large, last step back and was gone.

Yuri stepped to the edge, looking down to where Barbos lay, tangled up and dead in the gears of his own juggernaut. The gruesome display would have made most men squirm. Well, his mission had been completed.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't get him to surrender, Yuri." Estelle touched his upper arm gently and cast a healing arte on him.

"Surrender wasn't his style." He was grateful for that. "Let's get out of here."

As he turned, the rage seething in his body settled, leaving him feeling cold the way it always did. He found Flynn, right behind him, holding the red barrier blastia core.

"Here. I'm sure the Don wants this back."

"I'll let you hold onto it for now. I've got a hole in my pocket." He moved past them, taking a deep breath. It had been a close call this time and he couldn't let it ever get that close again. He needed to be more careful.

They headed back down to the front gate and Judith parted ways with them, saying that she had some research to do still and that maybe she would join them that evening for dinner.

Yuri watched her go, pausing on the front steps that lead back into the desert.

"Come on, Yuri!' Karol called up to him.

"You guys go on ahead. I've got one more thing to take care of. I'll catch up in a few minutes."

Repede wuffed and doubled back to join him. Reluctantly, the rest of his party started the trek back to Dahngrest and once they were out of sight, he and Repede entered Ghasfarost once more. It was deadly quiet now, with only the sound of their feet against the metal floor to be heard in the whole place.

What was the purpose of this tower? He had never seen machines like this and he was curious to see the blastia that Judith mentioned having to destroy, but he would have no idea what to do with it even if he went to investigate. He was no expert in blastia.

After a few moments, they found Barbos's resting place, crushed between two gears, only his sword arm and a pool of blood remaining. He reached into the gap between the gears and retrieved his proof. Tarnished and bloodstained was Barbos's Comrade Crest. He pocketed it, and he and his partner headed back to Dahngrest.

* * *

 

His mission complete, he returned to Dahngrest, Repede padding along side him. Although the dog warrior had not been there from the onset of his mission, he knew why Yuri had gone. He had always known.

He would find the others soon, but first he needed to see the Don. He went straight to Union headquarters. The Don was in a meeting and was not to be disturbed, so he loafed around in the halls for a bit until he saw a familiar face exiting the audience hall. It was Duke, the man whom Flynn called a war hero, who they had first met on Ehmead Hill at the ocean view point.

"Fancy seeing you here."

The man looked at him with cold and distant eyes. "You are...."

"Yuri Lowell."

"I see. You are the one who defeated Barbos."

Yuri suppressed flinching backward in surprise. "What do you know?"

"I was there, at that monstrous tower of his creation."

"Why?"

"To stop him, or at the very least, the tower."

A little unnerving, but at least that somewhat explained why the tower had stopped so suddenly. How was another question, but Yuri was certain that someone like Duke didn't care too much for questions and details. "Thanks, then. You really helped us out."

"Don't mistake it for charity. I was merely there for that purpose." Duke strode past him, and for the first time, Yuri caught a glimpse of the sword strapped to the man's side. It had an odd and heavy forbearance about it, and he felt as though he had seen the strange split blade before. The red sheen that played along its dark, curved surface distinguished it as unique, however.

Duke caught him staring but kept walking. It was hard not to look at a sword of such craftsmanship.

"Well, that was weird, huh?" He looked down to Repede.

"Arooo."

"Yeah. There's something about that guy that bothers me, too."

If Duke really had been the one to stop the tower of Ghasfarost, how had he done it? And was that the only reason he had really been there? Yuri decided that he could think on these questions further later. His own meeting with Don Whitehorse was more pressing than his curiosity.

He slid into the audience hall, empty save for the Don, who was waiting for him. He shut the door tightly behind him and strolled in as if it were easy. Not a word was spoken between them as he pulled Barbos's bloodied and tarnished Comrade Crest from his pocket and handed it to the Don. He took it in his huge hand, rolling it over briefly. He nodded silently and tucked it away inside of his vest.

"Yer friends already came and reported back. Can't say I'm surprised by what happened."

"It all worked out in the end."

"Ya did good." The tone of his voice still spoke like he never wanted this. And he didn't.

Yuri changed the subject, eager to move on from the thoughts of his near botched mission that still waited in his mind. "So what was Duke here to see you for?"

"If it had been anya yer business, ya woulda been here." His voice was more playful and sarcastic now, seemingly a little relieved to move on from those thoughts and burdens as well. He leaned back in his seat. "If yer lookin' for yer friends, they went to the barrier blastia. The mage promised to have it up and running soon.

"If anyone can do it, Rita can."

"Ya look like hell walked in. Ya should get some rest."

"One of these days, Gramps."


	21. Chapter 21

Rita set the core carefully back into the blastia, checking the control panel. Raven had run ahead to see the Don regarding the events at Ghasfarost, but Estellise, Karol, and Flynn waited with Rita to make certain that the barrier was returned to a good, working condition. They watched quietly as her fingers moved across the green glyph, muttering formulas under her breath. "Well, everything looks normal. I'm just going to check to the blastia' formula configurations and make sure that it's conducting aer effectively."

Estellise watched closely, pressed close to the genius mage. Everyone else gave the prickly mage plenty of room to work in peace, but she didn't seem to mind the close proximity of the pink haired princess. Flynn wasn't sure why every time Rita looked at Estellise, her face became a little flushed as if she was suddenly feeling ill.

"The sooner we get the blastia fixed, the sooner we can get these monsters out of town and everyone will be safe again!" Karol said.

"Shut up, so I can work!" She swatted at him, hitting him on the crown of his head with a stiff chopping motion before throwing both her hands back onto the display.

"Ow...."

"Looks like things are going pretty well here." Yuri walked up, Repede close at his side. He seemed strange to Flynn, eyes tired and looking overall pensive and withdrawn. He didn't look at them as he spoke, but instead up at the barrier, almost as if avoiding them. He walked with a heavy, but steady step.

"Rita should have the barrier as good as new soon!"

"That's great." Even his smirk was halfhearted at best, but no one else seemed to notice.

The blastia suddenly started humming loudly and Flynn could hear the sound of gears grinding together. He turned back to see Rita's face having grown incredibly grave, her fingers moving across the screen of the control panel faster than ever. She was mumbling once more, her brow knitted in concern. "No. This isn't good! Those idiots!"

"Rita, what's wrong?"

"Something's wrong with the blastia core! The idiots who stole it must have done something to damage it!"

"Can you fix it?"

"I'm losing control of it!"'

The aer all around them become thick and heavy, tinging red like blood as it began to flow faster and faster out of the blastia. It settled hard like a weight on his body, urging him to his knees. As hard as he tried, he was unable to move to rush to their aid. He knew from experience what could happen if a blastia started to go out of control. Even Karol, who had been at the bottom of the steps by a nearby crate was forced down.

"Rita, what are you doing?!"

"I can't leave him like this!" She cringed, but bore through the dangers of her chosen field of research. "I just need another-- GAH!"

The glow of the blastia increased, pushing both her and Estellise back, but Yuri fought through the pain and the pressure to move forward, shouting to them. As unbelievable as that was, Estellise seemed to be moving fine, and didn't seem strange at all until she started glowing, a soft silvery pink like she had once before, when she had revived the Tree of Halure. Flynn knew that her power was something amazing, but he didn't know just how. Just as the great tree before it, the barrier blastia began to glow as well, the soft wavering of it synchronizing with Estellise.

"Rita!" The glow surrounding Estellise grew brighter and brighter as she threw herself against the genius mage.

The light threw Yuri backwards, sending him skidding across the cobblestone and slamming him into a crate. He struggled to this feet as the light grew blindingly bright and forced Flynn to close and cover his eyes.

The light popped and dissipated, and above them, the rings of the barrier shone against the purple-red sky. His eyes felt like they were no longer searing in his skull and he was able to open them. He found Estellise on her knees, trembling. With every breath, she was casting, the green and gold halos continually covering Rita. Yuri was on his feet in a second, trying to pull her away.

"Rita.... We need to get Rita somewhere safe.... She's hurt...."

"Hey, take it easy! You're not in such great shape either."

"Rita." Estelle pulled away from his grasp, kneeling over the mage. "Rita, please be okay."

Flynn struggled to his feet, an effort aided by the weight of the highly dense air no longer threatening to crush him. His footing became more sure as he scrambled up, dashing to their aid. He managed to pull Estellise back, her own strength fading from the ordeal, and Yuri scooped up Rita cradle style in his arms.

"Karol!"

"Yeah?" The boy had been a further distance away and had suffered less of the ill effects.

"Go open up the girls' apartment. We need to get them up there now."

Karol nodded and ran off in the direction of the Sagittarius as fast as he could.

"Yuri, is Rita okay?" Estellise clung to Flynn's side, fighting to make her wobbly feet hold her weight up.

Yuri pressed his ear against Rita's sternum and held it there for a long moment. "She's alive. That's a start."

"Oh, thank goodness." Her grip on his shirt slipped a little as her consciousness waned. She recovered herself and tried again to stand without his support.

"Lady Estellise, are /you/ all right?" What she had done had obviously taken a lot out of her.

"I-I'm fine, Flynn." She tried to smile.

"Let's get you two somewhere where you can rest. Come on." Yuri shifted Rita a bit in his arms and a short jog later, they arrived at the apartment adjacent to Yuri's that Estellise and Rita had been occupying.

They laid the unconscious mage in one of the beds and ever caring Estellise insisted on sitting beside her. Even Yuri's attempts to convince her to rest did not sway her from her seat in a wooden chair beside the bed, holding one of Rita's hands. Eventually, they gave up trying to change her mind.

In time, Yuri sent Karol to tell the Don that the barrier was repaired and that they would stop by later to fill in the details. The boy eagerly rushed off to fulfill Yuri's wish. Flynn and Yuri watched and waited. Repede also sat beside them like a watchful guardian.

It wasn't more than half an hour before Rita began to stir, and they were able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Rita, are you feeling okay? Don't get up." Not that she could even answer between being bombarded by Estellise's concerned questioning. "It's just when you think you've recovered that the worst happens.

Rita sat up, pulling her hand out of Estellise's and pushed her hair back with it. "Just calm down, Estelle. I'm fine."

"I'm so glad that you're all right! We were so worried!"

"Don't worry so much about me. I can take care of myself." The mage scoffed. "But more importantly... you don't have to pretend to use that blastia anymore."

Estellise blanched, one hand instinctively covering the blastia on her wrist. "W-What do you mean?"

Flynn stepped forward. How had Rita known? How long had she known?

"She's right. We know that you're not really using that trinket to cast," Yuri added and Flynn's gaze snapped over to look at him. "I've known ever since you first healed me. I'm guessing that that's the big secret that the two of you have been keeping."

"It's a matter of national security. No one outside of the royal family and the Council is supposed to know."

"So, I suppose that's why Alexei's looking for you."

"I'm afraid so. I really don't know why though. What could my power possibly mean to him?"

"It probably has something to do with the formula you use." Rita reached for her book off the edge of the bed, but Estellise passed it quickly to her.

"Formula?"

"Yes. The way that you conduct and use aer when you use your ability. Blastia all has an inscribed formula to direct the flow and shape of aer. Your formula is different than that of a typical blastia," the mage explained, but it seemed to go over their heads. "Did that kid Ioder have this power, too?"

"Not that I know of."

"I see." She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"It is imperative that this be kept in the strictest of confidence. If people at large were to find out, then--" Flynn started, but Rita cut him off with a glare.

"I know. I won't let anyone abuse Estelle's power."

Flynn looked over to Yuri, who seemed lost for all the talk of science. Yuri returned his glance after a moment, calm and serious. "Don't worry. Secret's safe with me."

An ominous silence settled over them and finally Yuri turned and Repede stood. "I've got some things to take care of. Head down to Gramps's office when you're feeling better."

"Thank you, Yuri."

He waved this off, and they watched him leave.

 

* * *

 

That afternoon, when Estellise was willing to let Rita out of bed, they ventured down to the Don's office in the Sagittarius. It was half an hour before Yuri and Repede arrived behind them. He was quiet and calm. His demeanor hadn't changed from earlier and he said nothing to them when he entered the Don's office and flopped down on the sofa. They had already returned the barrier blastia core and finished clearing the remaining monsters out of town.

"Ya kids did good."

"I'm afraid that we were not able to get Barbos to surrender."

"Not surprised. Last thing he would have wanted was to appear before the rest of the Union on charges of treason. As long as the barrier blastia core was returned safely, I couldn't care less what become of that traitorous scum."

"What took you so long, Yuri?" Karol turned, whispering behind one his hands.

"No big deal. I had to find my wallet."

Flynn had difficulty believing him. Yuri wasn't careless, even if he acted that way. Why else would he have returned though? And how had he gotten to Ghasfarost so far ahead of them? How had he known before all of them that the barrier blastia core was missing? And what about what Barbos had said? He had called him a 'death hound', and while he had been livid that they had gotten into his tower, his main focus had seemed to be Yuri.

"I'm just glad that Dahngrest is safe again." Estellise breathed a sigh of relief.

"We appreciate what ya've done, but I'm afraid that the Union's still deliberating about aiding your cause. We should have an answer for ya tomorrow morning."

"We understand that it is a big decision, considering the difficulty of the years of war between the Union and the Empire, and thank you once more for being so kind and listening to our cause."

The Don waved a hand at her in lighthearted dismissal, but the look in his eyes as he glanced over at Yuri, betrayed a calm and contained sort of sorry that Flynn was unsure if anyone else noticed. It was a little startling, but Flynn said nothing and merely observed the body language as Don Whitehorse stood. "All right. Go get yerself some dinner. Come by Union headquarters in the morning."

They exited, Flynn watching out of the corner of his eye as Yuri lagged behind a moment before joining them in the main room of the tavern. His demeanor was unchanged as he sat at table with them, downing a pint of ale before the waitress brought their dinner. He didn't eat much, only managing a few bites of curry when Estellise questioned if everything was all right.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. I'm just not really hungry." Flynn knew it was likely that the dark haired guildsman hadn't eaten all day if he had been running around the Tower of Gears looking for the barrier blastia core. He stood, stretching his lean form in a way that made Flynn ache. "I'm going to hit the hay. I'm beat." His shirt shifted and below his collar, Flynn could see a purple-yellow bruise dotted with teeth prints.

Had something happened at Ghasfarost that he wasn't telling them? From the bites, could it have been something indecent? One of Barbos's men had said that Yuri had been arrested that morning. Had he resorted to his usual tactics to get out?

Yuri left in a slow pace, his steps lacking their normal energy.

Flynn jolted out of his chair like lightning. He was angry once more, and perhaps a little worried. He fumbled for an excuse as Estellise, Rita, and Karol started up at him in confusion.

"I-I'll be right back."


	22. Chapter 22

He took a slow pace out of the tavern, but his step quickened as soon as he was out of sight of the window. He had been acting. He wasn't tired. It was to the contrary. Adrenaline flooded his veins. He moved as quickly as he could without looking suspicious in the darkened Dahngrest streets. The rage that had cooled and calmed in his blood was icy hot once more, rising fresh to the surface of his normally cool demeanor. The flames of rage drove him. This chilled him to the bone, terrifying him each time he felt it, more than facing any monster, because this made him a monster. He didn't like it, but he knew that in his line of work, a taste for blood was necessary. He was a monster, but a necessary evil.

The streets of Dahngrest were quiet and dark, most shops closed for the night, and the brick paths lit by faint white street lights. Yuri didn't need the light. He knew his way by heart. His boots hit the pavement harsher and louder than he would have liked, but he knew it was just his nerves playing tricks on him. Everything seemed louder when trying to be stealthy.

The target was exactly where he had anticipated after he had caught sight of him in the windows of the Sagittarius. A change of clothing did little to disguise a man who Yuri had burned an image of into his brain. Yuri would never forget the face, the gait, the very sickening air of this man as long as he lived.

He was talking to some of Barbos's men, issuing orders in the barest of whispers that Yuri still managed to hear as he slowed his approach to help silence his feet.

Yuri drew his sword, fingers curled tight around the tool of his trade. The extension of himself was a bit dull now from his previous fights, but it was sharp enough to do the job he wished that he didn't have to do. He was the only one who could do this. A little more blood on his hands would only prove to make the world safer from monsters like this. There was no one else. This was his path and his burden.

They didn't hear his approach and he quickly took advantage of that. He moved swift and silent, taking out of the first of the mercenaries with a single strike. He doubled back for half a second, and cut down the second just as easily, leaving his target cowering alone before him.

"Ragou."

"W-Who are you?!" It didn't take him long to recognize Yuri. "You...."

"Why was Barbos stealing blastia and what connection does that have to the Empire?" He wouldn't have bothered with an interrogation normally, but the answer to these questions could be meaningful.

"I don't know!" He stammered. "I'm only doing as I was ordered!"

"Who gave you the order?"

"I-I could destroy you right now! A simple snap of my fingers--"

"You're no good to me if you won't talk." Yuri assumed that Ragou was simply a link in the chain that probably ended with Alexei. But who were the other links?

"Please! I beg you for mercy!"

"What mercy did you show the people of Capua Nor?"

Ragou shuddered in mute surprise. He turned quickly to run, but Yuri struck.

He had always been so terrified of how easy it was to kill someone. Ragou was no different, Yuri's blade slid through the muscle and bone of his back easily. Hot, red blood splattered across his face and torso, but he watched stone cold as the Magistrate's body slipped over the railing of the bridge and splashed into the river below.

Yuri wiped his cheek with the back of his hand, his rage sated for now. One less monster walked this earth. He looked at the red smear on his pale skin.

"So, even monsters bleed red. I guess that explains me." He looked up to the cold stars, eyes fixed once more on Brave Vesperia. If only he could shine even a fraction as bright, maybe his path wouldn't have come to this.

 _You left this world when there wasn't a place for you anymore. Will there ever be a world that doesn't need a murderer like me? When will I no longer have a place to belong?_ He hoped sooner rather than later. He didn't like doing these things, but his method was quick, effective, and sometimes necessary. He didn't like what he did, but he bloodied his own hands for the sake of others. It sounded noble, but he knew it wasn't. He was still a monster, howling in the dark, covered in the blood of those he killed.

He took a sigh, half relief and half exasperation, and turned. He was ready for a shower and a sleep in his own bed, but that was not what he found.

* * *

 

He arrived seconds too late. Five minutes earlier, he had been concerned for Yuri. for the bite marks that peppered his pale form and what might have caused them, and the strange shift in his attitude. He wasn't sure why he felt such concern for a man whom he was still enraged at, but the concern was gone now. This wasn't justice. It was murder.

"Yuri Lowell." He drew his sword, pointing it at the guildsman. "You are under arrest for the murder of Councilman Ragou."

Yuri turned and looked at him, a strange distance lingering in his charcoal eyes. Flynn repeated himself, and after a moment, the guildsman laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. He took a few steps forward until he stood with the point of Flynn's blade only inches from the point between his eyes. He grabbed it in his left hand, holding tightly enough for the steel to cut through the flesh of his palm. He watched in calm interest for a moment as the warm red blood dripped down his arm.

"Stop--"

"What authority do you have here?"

"What?"

"Maybe you have power in the Empire, but this is Dahngrest. You have no power here." He cracked a cold smirk after a second. "Heh. I guess my chances of freedom for a fuck are really out of the question now."

"Why did you do it? Why not arrest him?"

Yuri let go of the sword and slicked a bit of his dark hair away from his bloodstained face. "Can we talk about this somewhere else? I need a shower."

He was so nonchalant about it that it made Flynn even more angry. "Fine."

They walked mutely back to Yuri's apartment, Flynn watching his every step carefully. As soon as they were in the door, Yuri was heading to his room, pulling off his bloodstained clothing and Flynn followed. By the time they reached his room, Yuri was completely bare, the red on his face such a stark contrast against the white of his skin. He was standing in the bathroom, turning on the shower when he turned back to Flynn, unashamed of his form or anything else for that matter.

"Go ahead. Say whatever you want."

"Why did you kill Ragou?" He wasn't sure what kind of answer he'd get, but he waited for it.

"He was a monster." Yuri stepped into his tiny shower, closing the door that barred Flynn's view from only knee to shoulder. He lifted his face into the warm spray of water that rinsed the splash of blood away. "You saw what he did to the people of Capua Nor. If some one like that isn't stopped, they'll only continue."

"You could have arrested him, but you chose to take the law into your own hands. He should have been judged in a court of law."

"Law means nothing to someone like that."

"That doesn't mean that it can mean nothing to you. If that law is flawed, then you fix the law."

Yuri looked over at him, eyes still stony cold. "I'm not saying what I did was justice. Because it wasn't. I murdered a defenseless man in cold blood and I don't regret it."

"Is that why you were at Ghasfarost before everyone else? You wanted to get Barbos, since he was the one aiding Ragou back in Nor Harbor."

"Yep. You all showed up and foiled my mission though. Luckily, he took care of things himself."

"Mission." He realized it, like a sudden hit to the stomach. He barely suppressed a gag, pushing his fingers against his mouth. It was a moment before he could speak. "You're Don Whitehorse's Enforcer."

Yuri didn't say anything as he stepped out of the shower, much cleaner than before. Anyone who saw him now would never have known about the red splatter that had stained him, but the heat of the water lingering on his skin made the bites and bruises much more obvious. His charcoal eyes stared down at Flynn. "I remove the criminals that the law cannot or will not touch, and I have never regretted it once."

"No person is above the law, even the Don's own grandson!"

"I never said that I was above the law. I know I'm a criminal."The guildsman sat down on the bed beside him, ruffling his long hair with a towel to dry it.

"You constantly remind me about how imperfect the Empire is, and now you can see that the Union is also far from perfect."

"I never said the Union didn't have its share of problems. The difference is that I'm actually doing something to change that. What are you doing?"

Flynn's anger flushed him. What could he do now, in enemy territory, awaiting aid, with only himself to rely on? There weren't any changes he could make now. He was powerless here and he wanted to feel justified in the suspicion he'd had for the guildsman all along, but instead he just felt disgusted.

Yuri leaned over, pressing toward him until their noses were nearly touching. The smirk that was splayed across his face made the pit in his stomach only worse, and his eyes didn't shine the way they usually did when he was having fun teasing Flynn. He licked his lips and Flynn could feel the warmth of his breath against his face. "Do you still want me now that you know what I really am?"

"How many people?" He had to bite his tongue to keep from answering the dark haired man's question truthfully.

"Is that something you really want to know? You might not like the answer."

"So that's what Zagi meant."

"Get out." The dark humor that his voice had held was gone, sharp iciness left in its place. He fell backward onto the bed, and rolled into the sheets.

He stood, but didn't leave immediately. "I thought you were better than this." He wasn't sure why he said that, but he felt that it was the truth and that it was important.

"Well, I'm not." Yuri curled tightly into his bedsheets. "I don't care what you think, but just don't tell Karol."

Flynn stared down at Yuri for another moment, before storming out of the room. He marched into the living room, but he knew that sleep wasn't an option with his mind racing and the weight of all the air in the apartment like a ton of bricks on his chest. He passed the sofa and Repede, who watched him walk through the living room on his way to the door. He didn't want to stop. He had to get out of there and get this off his mind.

But who could he talk to? Conceivably, there was only one person who already knew what was going on, so Flynn followed that course of action, however intimidating it might be. He left Yuri's apartment and tromped down the stairs and around the front of the building to the tavern. The lights of the Sagittarius were still shining, but the crew was cleaning up for the night. He entered and made a beeline for the door on the right hand side of the building. It was open, and he could see Don Whitehorse in his office, seated at his desk and looking over some paperwork. He knocked anyway, his knuckles rapping with a sharp urgency against the hard wooden door..

"I told ya to come by headquarters in the morning." The Don didn't look up from his work.

"I'm not here to see you about that."

"Lemme guess. You're here about Yuri."

"Yes, Sir."

"Shut the door."

Flynn did as he was told and marched right up to the Don's desk. Don Whitehorse finally looked up at him, wearing a face that showed his absolute graveness on the subject. Flynn didn't wait to begin his questioning. "Why did you allow him to bloody his hands?"

Don Whitehorse leaned back in his desk chair, eying Flynn carefully. "What does it matter to you?"

"What he's doing is against the law, both in the Empire and in Dahngrest. You can't go around murdering people because you don't like what they're doing."

"If this is about Barbos, I don't see why you care. It's one less guildsman for the Empire to worry about."

"It isn't just about Barbos. It's about all the others, too. I want to know how you could let your own grandson become what he has."

"That some concern I hear? Because what yer asking isn't 'why did he kill' but 'why did I ask him to'."

Every hair on his body stood on end. He hadn't thought at all that he was asking something out of concern for the guildsman, but when it was repeated back to him, it certainly sounded that way.

"I wonder why I should even tell ya." The Don clasped his hands together and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the polished surface of his desk. "Take it from me, lad. I'm not happy things turned out this way, and neither is he. Because if you think for a second that he enjoys what he does, you're wrong. But without him, there'd be murderers and rapists running free, monsters like ya've never seen before that the laws can't touch, like Barbos or your Councilman Ragou."

"They should have been tried in a court of law for their crimes."

"Your sense of justice is admirable, I'll give you that. Justice is a wonderful thing, a perfect ideal, but when put in the hands of humans, it becomes tarnished and warped. It becomes 'law' and those who make the law then have all the power over 'justice'. They are not the same thing." Every now and then he was surprised at how intelligent a man Don Whitehorse was, although he really shouldn't have been. It took more than just strength and charisma to found the world's largest and most powerful guild.

"But that makes your laws imperfect as well."

"Aye. No law is perfect. And ya agree that those who break the law must be punished in accordance, correct?"

"Yes."

"But what if the law is broken in defense of others? What if the law is broken for the right of others to have justice?"

"The law is still broken and that person should still be punished. Mitigating circumstances can be taken into accord during the punishment however."

"Then law is broken and justice is served. But if law is upheld, and justice not served, what then?"

Flynn didn't know how to answer that.

"And what if the law refuses to punish those who break it? What if the law ends up protecting the ones who are breaking it in the first place? Is that not injustice?" Don Whitehorse must have easily seen that Flynn was stumped. "Yuri has broken the law, but justice has been served. The people he killed would have only continued to harm and exploit people if they remained."

"I--"

"I'm not askin' ya to agree with me. I'm just askin' ya to understand."

He couldn't say anything further, lest his temper get away with him in front of the man whom they were requesting aide from. Debate and philosophy were not his strong points.

"Yuri's a good kid on a dark path, bearing a burden that no one much wants and his relationships suffer for it. He keeps everyone at arm's length. But this is the path that he's chosen and he is ready to face the consequences. And he's alone. He's got friends, but no one he considers an equal and no one that shares that burden with him. Now, if yer done, I need ta get back ta work."

Flynn was stunned. He still didn't understand, but saw himself out. He returned to Yuri's apartment and laid down on the sofa in the dark. Half of him wanted to be afraid of the man asleep in the room down the hall who had, less than an hour before, committed murder, but the other half of him felt that he had no reason to be. Yuri's actions were wrong, and illegal, but at the same time, those actions had surely saved lives. And Flynn was a Royal Guard, taught to uphold the letter of the law, but in doing so, had he been failing to uphold the ideals of justice the way his father had taught him?

His stomach hurt too much to sleep, filled with cold anger and guilt, tempered in restlessness and the uneasiness crawled like vermin on his skin. He was so disgusted: with Yuri, with himself, with everything. He felt inept. He had witnessed a murder—a murder that had been committed for the good of others—but he had been powerless to enforce the law and now he wasn't even sure that the law was right. Law and Justice. It was murder. Even Yuri had said as much. But it was justice. Who knew how many people had fallen prey to Ragou and his sick games and how many more would have suffered if he had not been killed? And how many others would Yuri repeat this with, and how many before had fallen to his blade and vengeful rage? What was the difference between 'law' and 'justice' and could someone enforce both without neglecting either?

 

* * *

 

He rolled over and closed his eyes, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep, especially with that idiot blond stomping around his apartment. His nerves were frayed and hot and right on the surface of his skin and he felt so filthy in spite of the shower he had just gotten out of, and so uncomfortable in spite of being in his own skin. It was his own though, and that was the problem. He wished it was someone else's, yet he would not wish his burden on anyone. Some days it was almost too much for him to bear.

Yuri stretched out on the bed after he heard Flynn slam the door and head downstairs to the night-darkened streets. He was careful not to touch himself at all and of all the thoughts in his head, he couldn't get out of his mind how sickened and disappointed Flynn's eyes had been and the things that he said. He wasn't even sure why he cared.

 _So that's what Zagi meant._ Of course he had been talking about what the assassin had said while on the boat in Nor Harbor. Yuri was nothing like Zagi. Zagi killed for pleasure, even more than for the salary he had to be making as one of the Red-Eyes' top assassins. Zagi enjoyed the work he did, and Yuri did not. Nobody within range of Zagi was safe, while Yuri was much more selective about who gained his wrath. He wasn't like Zagi. He had to keep himself convinced of that.

 _I thought you were better than that._ Oh, did you really? He almost didn't think he had heard that right. All the distrust and aggression and friction between them had been for what? When had Flynn reached the conclusion that Yuri was better than some fictional standard he had set? The plain fact of the matter was that Yuri wasn't.

He thought that he would have gotten used to the disgust that he felt for himself long ago, but he never had. Blood had stained his hands for four years and it never became any easier. He was actually a little grateful for that though. If it was easier, he could much more effortlessly lose himself. It was something he didn't want to do. He fought so hard to keep himself together.

Each person that was met with his rage now had a spot in his mind, with their deeds listed beside them so that he would never forget what he had done and why, and so that he would never become like them. Four years was hardly enough time to distance himself from the first of his slayings. The man had continually escaped prosecution by the Union. There had been no evidence and no witnesses, so he had been acquitted each time, and each time, more children had gone missing. One late winter night, Yuri had happened to catch the man in the act, just in time to save the life of the child. Nobody had missed him, and Yuri had never forgotten. He wouldn't forget Ragou either.


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Notes: Yes, Karan is a reference to something.

* * *

 

"Flynn, wake up"

He groaned, rubbing his eyes and attempting to roll over away from the voice calling to him.

"Flynn, we need to hurry. The Don's waiting for us. Yuri's already gone on ahead."

That sent him tumbling off the sofa and onto the rug. Estellise and Rita were standing over him, bright eyed and well rested, but he had not been so lucky. Sleep had evaded him, leaving restlessness instead that only subsided with the light of dawn. "Sorry. I'm awake now." He rose slowly, his body aching as much as his head did.

"We'll give you a few minutes to get dressed. We'll be downstairs." Estellise smiled, and when he nodded in reply, she and Rita left.

Everything was hazy as he stumbled into Yuri's bathroom, past his empty, unmade bed. The ache in his head and chest told him that the prior night's events had indeed been real and he wasn't just imaging it. That realization didn't make looking at himself in the mirror any easier.

He relieved himself and washed his face and hands, looking a little less haggard for the effort. He wasn't sure he was ready to face Yuri or the Don again, but he had no choice.

After straightening himself up, Flynn joined Estellise and Rita downstairs and they walked to the Union Headquarters. The sun was blindingly bright for it being so early, in spite of the veil of aer that cast a red-orange hue to the sky around the clock. People were bustling into the streets, attending to their daily lives or their homes and jobs. No matter what she may have been feeling about the possible outcome of this meeting, Estellise didn't show it. She was excited to be walking around, meeting new people, and adventuring. She was experiencing things she never would have in Zaphias, but she wasn't safe. But the same could be said about Zaphias though. He still had no idea what the Imperial Capital looked like and if its citizens were safe. With luck though, they would be on their way back soon.

But how would they remove Alexei from power? Would the Council be willing to hear their case and help take him out of the picture or were they working with Alexei toward his strange and clandestine goal? Estellise was hopeful, but Flynn found himself far from that, instead walking a path of doubt. What if, after everything they had done and everything that had happened, Don Whitehorse chose not to help them? He didn't want to think about the possibility, but he couldn't help it.

Union headquarters was mostly empty when they entered, allowed through by a guard who recognized them. Karol was lingering by the door to the audience room, leaning up against the wall and tapping his feet on the floor until he noticed them.

"Hey guys!"

"Good morning, Karol. Where's Yuri?" Estellise returned the greeting.

"He's talking to the Don. He'll be out soon and then it's your turn."

"What are they talking about?"

"The Don's probably got another mission for Yuri."

Flynn didn't have time to wonder if that mission would call for more blood on Yuri's hands as the dark haired guildsman came walking out of the audience room, talking to a blond young man with a red stripe tattooed across his face, and Raven and Repede in tow. He would have suspected this to be one of Yuri's 'shiny friends', but the mannerisms between them were different. The blond didn't walk with a lot of confidence, but their chatting seemed genial. Raven pushed himself between them, throwing an arm around each of them, grinning like a fool. They smiled and laughed and Yuri's attitude seemed totally different from the night before. That is, right up until he spotted Flynn staring at him. Flynn felt once more as disgusted as Yuri looked.

Yuri shrugged off the scruffy Raven and gave some excuse before walking over to the group of them. "Morning."

"Good morning, Yuri."

"You guys go ahead in. Gramps will be with you in a moment.”

"Thank you." Estellise, Rita, and Karol started in, but Flynn felt frozen in place. "Are you coming, Flynn?"

"He'll be in in a minute. I need to talk to him about something."

Flynn was suddenly dreading whatever Yuri had to say to him once the others had gone, and once they were out of sight, Yuri wasted no time.

"It's been fun, but I'm done playing games with you. You have no power over me anymore and nothing to offer me, so this is it. After this, I'm out of here. You can tell your superior officer or whatever that I escaped because that's what's happening. So kindly fuck off."

As sick as he was about everything, he still found a retort ready on his tongue. "By Imperial Law, you're still under arrest for the assault of a nobleman."

"Which is a sentence that serves a standard of ten days. So I served my sentence on the trip here."

Flynn bristled, goose bumps of anger pocking his skin. He raised his hand, but Yuri turned before he could continue his side of the argument and with a speedy step, he moved back into the audience room. He was forced to follow, dazed and silent.

Don Whitehorse was seated in his chair, the three other members of the Union sitting in their respective spots under their guild banners. The spot of the Blood Alliance was fittingly, and disturbingly, empty, leaving an imprint on Flynn's mind of the fact that Barbos had only the night before fallen to his death from his juggernaut creation, Ghasfarost. The blond that Yuri had been talking to was standing beside him and the two of them and Raven on either side of the Don's throne. Estellise and Rita stood in front of the Don and Flynn moved to stand with them. Other than this handful of people, the Union's audience chamber was empty.

"The members of the Union reached a consensus regarding yer request."

The audience chamber was deathly silent for a long moment, leaving Flynn to wonder if his revelations and having stormed into the Don's office for an interrogation and apparent philosophy lesson had ruined their chances for help. He cursed his impetuous temper.

"The Union has agreed to aid you under the following condition: The two of ya are to go to Nordopolica and get the backing of Palestralle and Belius. The Union also wants the chance to negotiate peace once that madman Alexei is outta power."

Even Yuri appeared surprised by the conditions.

"Nordopolica. That's on the continent of Deiser, correct?"

"Yes. Yuri and Raven have business there, too, so you'll be traveling with them."

Yuri shock faded into anger, but he said nothing. He must have been as surprised as everyone else. Flynn wasn't sure why he felt relieved by that after Yuri had been very firm in breaking off whatever their current relationship was. Flynn hesitated in thinking they had a relationship at all, but it was pretty impossible to live in the world and not have relationships, of varying degrees of intimacy. He was still very unsure what sort of degree of intimacy he wanted with the man he had discovered to be a murderer.

"Thank you, members of the Union, Don Whitehorse. We will do our best."

"You'll be leaving the day after tomorrow, so go get ready. The seas are rough this time of year, and fraught with monsters."

Flynn bowed and gave his thanks as well.

"Head to the docks this afternoon to meet with Kaufman of Fortune's Market. It's her boat that'll get ya there. Yuri and Raven will have further instructions."

They were dismissed after a few moments and at Estellise's request, they waited on Yuri, who stopped to talk to the blond young man once more as well as the Don. Yuri and Repede joined them after a moment.

"I'm so happy that we get to keep traveling together."

"Yeah, that's pretty great." He didn't seem as enthusiastic as he forced himself to sound. Yuri shifted his glance over to Flynn for half a second, charcoal eyes hard in a display that told Flynn that his earlier exclamations still stood. Repede bumped against him, staring up at his partner as he licked his hand. He let out a gruff woof and trotted off. "See you later, Repede."

"Where is he going?" Estellise's eyes followed the dog until he disappeared through the front door.

"He says he's got some guild business to wrap up before we leave town."

"Guild business?"

"Oh yeah. Repede is the head of one of the local guilds."

"What guild would have a dog as it's leader?" Rita snapped.

"They're called the Little Wolves. All the dogs and cats in Dahngrest are in the guild, and after Repede defeated Big Boss, he became the leader."

Flynn and the two girls couldn't help but stare at Yuri blankly and he was oblivious to the fact that his sanity was in question. If not for the scene the night before, this might have been comical. The growl of Flynn's stomach broke the silence and he was left suddenly remembering that he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning as he had skipped dinner last night in favor of following Yuri. After a moment, Rita and Estellise's stomachs echoed his own.

"Why don't we all go get some breakfast?"

"I've got some guild business to take care of also. You guys go on ahead."

"Okay, Yuri. We'll see you later on then."

He walked away again, and once more, Flynn felt compelled to follow but he resisted.

"Let's go to Six Asters for breakfast then. They've got really great pastries." Karol seemed completely unconcerned with Yuri's behavior. What would the knowledge of what Yuri really was do to someone who worshiped him like a hero? Karol had been the one person that Yuri told Flynn not to tell, as if no one else's opinion would have mattered.

With the matter of breakfast agreed upon, they took to the streets, down a back alley a block or so from the inn and came upon a little bakery, crushed between two other buildings. A bell rung from the top of the door as they entered. A brunette woman, middle aged and fair, peeked over the counter, just beyond a long glass case filled with all sorts of pastries and cakes, from the plain to the extravagant. She swept a wisp of hair out of her face, brushed a small cloud of flour off her apron and smiled at them.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning, Ms. Karan," Karol replied as he nearly pressed his face against the pristine glass of the display case.

"Oh, Yuri's not with you today?"

"No. He's out on guild business, but I brought some friends of ours for breakfast." He stopped a moment and pulled a small bag of gald out of his oversized travel bag. "Here's the rent for the next few weeks, since we'll be out of town."

"Where are you going?" She pocketed the bag, but Flynn noticed that it seemed a little small for rent for a few weeks. She said nothing about that fact.

"Nordopolica!"

"That sounds so exciting. Stop by before you leave so I can give you some treats to go. What can I get for you today?"

"I'd like a slice of cherry cake, please!"

"And what about for your friends?"

Estellise and Rita each selected the cherry cake also, and Flynn, just a plain croissant. As the others moved to sit at a table near the front window with their breakfasts, he stopped to talk to the woman in a quiet whisper. "Why does a twelve year old boy pay rent?"

She smiled a bit, although a little sad. "Poor Karol doesn't have any real family, so he rents a room upstairs. Mind you, Yuri pays for half of it. They're like brothers, those two. Who knows what kind of life Karol would have if it weren't for Yuri. He might be a bit of a troublemaker sometimes, but he's really a very kind young man."

"Yuri is?"

"Oh yes. When my husband died, Yuri helped me run the shop until I could get everything straightened out and refused to let me pay him for it. A lot of people around town owe him a lot for everything he's done." Karan plated his croissant with a little honey and some butter and handed it to him over the counter, followed by a pastry wrapped up in a piece of parchment paper. "Here. Please make sure Yuri gets this. Sometimes, I worry that he doesn't feed himself properly."

He was a little stunned, but took it gratefully with the promise that the next time he saw Yuri, he would get the food.

Mid bite into his cake, Karol yanked his head up from the table, dropping the pastry and nearly hit the glass window of the bakery. “I-I'll be right back!”

“Whatever!” Rita said around a mouthful of her own tart, rolling her eyes.

He rushed out into the street and stopped in front of a young girl, dressed in black and red, carrying a large, crescent shaped blade across her shoulders. They talked briefly, and she displayed for him her arm, where a dark set of claw marks were healing. He seemed impressed and a little red in the face. After a moment, she seemed to say her goodbyes and left Karol to return to his breakfast in the bakery.

“Karol, who was that?” Estellise asked.

“O-oh! That was Nan. She's, uh, a friend of mine!”

“Just a friend?” she pried a little, smiling.

“Yeah! Just a friend. She's a monster hunter in the Hunting Blades. She's really super strong.” His face lit up a little when he talked about this girl. It seemed more like a first crush than a friendship.

Before Estellise could question further, he went back to stuffing his face, and resignedly, she did too.

After breakfast, and a little later in the afternoon, they headed with Karol to the docks that sat on the largest river in the area and dipped down under the second largest bridge in Dahngrest. It was built into the craggy sides of the cliffs that ran along either side of the river and numerous ships were moored there, mostly large, heavily built cargo ships that had been fortified for use in battle. There was one small ship at the very end of the dock, and standing there was a woman with long red hair, dressed in a long coat of orange and white. Her arms were folded and she looked at the ship over her silver rimmed glasses with a business-like glare.

"How much longer until the sail is fixed, Tokunaga?"

"Two days at least. It's in pretty rough shape." A man with a full head of very fluffy, dark hair replied from the bow of the ship.

She sighed and pushed her glasses a little further up the bridge of her nose.

"Excuse me, but are you Ms. Kaufman of Fortune's Market?" Estellise approached with a little bow, her hands folded in front of her.

"Who's asking?" The woman turned and in an instant, her amber gaze hardened. "Oh. It's you."

"Thank you for allowing us passage to Desier aboard--"

"Don't be mistaken. I'm not doing this because you need assistance. I just happen to owe Don Whitehorse a favor. I'm not at all happy about having Imperials aboard my ship. Since you're here though, you'll be working alongside the rest of the crew."

"O-of course." Estellise was surprised by her suddenly harsh demeanor, but Flynn wasn't. Yuri had told them after all that Fortune's Market had been run out Capua Torim and its leader's home burned to the ground after the onset of the war. It was no surprise that she would have some hostilities against those who had done this to her.

"Take it easy, Kaufman. They're with me."

They turned to see Yuri striding down the dock, looking smug as usual. Her demeanor changed once more and she approached him.

"I guess I'll give them a bit of a break, because its you." She looped an arm around his and bumped against him with one curvaceous hip. She was suddenly charming, her clipped tone smoother, and her body language more open as she leaned against him. This was someone who knew what she wanted and how to get it using her charms. "So, when are you going to leave Altosk and come work for me?"

He chuckled, her feminine wiles useless on him. "You know I can't leave Gramps."

"I can offer you double the salary he's paying you."

"Sorry, Kaufman."

"Triple."

"No thanks. Money doesn't get me all hot and bothered like it does for you."

She pouted. "Fine. My offer still stands for now though. In the meantime, it's going to be two more days before our sail is fit for use again. Regrettably, that's put us in the peak of merman season."

"Don't worry. These guys may not look like much, but they're pretty tough." He smiled, putting a confident hand on Estellise's shoulder. "Don't be too mean to them now."

"Fine. I suppose I could put them to use. They'll need to be prepared."

Yuri turned and took a few steps down the wharf before being stopped.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

"I've got some business out of town to take care of. I'll be back before we sail."

"Can I come too, Yuri?"

"Sorry, Karol. Don's orders. But I've got an important job for you."

"What?"

"Keep everyone out of trouble until I get back and make sure they get equipped for the trip. Okay?"

"Will do!"

"Be careful, Yuri!" Estellise called after him as he ruffled Karol's hair and walked away with a wave.

The cold pit in Flynn's stomach returned as he watched Raven, who had been waiting at the end of the docks, hand Yuri a pack as they walked off together. Was this another 'mission' like the one with Barbos? He couldn't help but wonder who could be at the receiving end of Yuri's blade this time. He stepped to follow. He didn't want to know, but he had to.

"Flynn?"

"I forgot to give him the pastry from Ms. Karan. I'll be back."

He followed with a hurried step, but tried to keep from looking suspicious. He followed at a distance so as not to lose them, but also so they wouldn't notice him, along the streets of Dahngrest to the eastern entrance of town, across the bridge where Yuri had slain Ragou only the night before. Raven paused there, sitting on the railing and waved to Yuri as he continued across and then out into the world beyond the barrier. Flynn wasted no time approaching the scruffy man.

"Where's he going?"

Raven hummed and looked at him lazily. "What's it matter to you?"

"It just does."

"Oh. I dunno exactly. He said something about Heliord to Ol' Man Whitehorse. So probably there. But I dunno what business he's got in Guildsman Gallows."

He swore internally and started off after him. It didn't take much for Flynn to assume that if Yuri was going to Heliord, it was because of the magistrate there, Cumore, and it didn't take him much more to assume what would happen when Yuri got there. He had to stop him. Maybe Cumore was in league with Alexei, maybe he was responsible for the deaths of many guildsmen, but he should be tried for those things. Yuri was not a person worthy of doling out 'justice'. Flynn had been powerless last time. He didn't want to be powerless this time.


	24. Chapter 24

Author's Notes: I am honestly disappointed that Yuri wasn't a candidate for the seduction scene in Heliord in game. Also, I am simultaneous proud and disgusted with this chapter. Gross. But at least it was funny listening to the program I use for editing read it back to me.

Tales of Vesperia is the property of Namco Bandai.

* * *

Repede had alerted him to the fact that Flynn was following them hours ago, but Yuri gave no indication that he knew. Flynn remained close on their tail, but always at a distance that made Yuri think that the knight believed himself undiscovered. Idiot. Whatever Flynn's plan was, it was pointless. Yuri was already set in his course of action, consequences be damned. Since the moment they had fled Heliord and he had looked back, he had known that he would be returning, sooner or later, and the conditions would be much different.

It was nearly dawn when they stopped in the grey haze of the forest. He knew that if he took a break, Flynn would take the chance to catch up to him and impede his progress, and he was planning on this. He found a little clearing and lay down, curling close to Repede, one ear against the soft grass, listening for Flynn's approach. He closed his eyes and drifted off for a bit before he heard the sound of the blond's boots tromping through the underbrush, stalking his way to Yuri's camp. He felt the barest wag of Repede's tail, and he waited until it grew harder. Although he had his eyes closed, his other senses were heightened and he could hear and feel every leaf crunch or twig snap as finally, as the boots grew close to his head, they stopped. He could hear Flynn sigh. He must have just been watching for now, but Yuri didn't wait long to make his state of consciousness aware.

"You'll wake up the whole forest the way you stomp around."

"You're awake?"

"I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"So you knew I was following you?

"You shouldn't follow strange people into the woods." He sat up and stretched, wishing that he had gotten to nap longer, but he needed to keep moving.

Flynn extended a crinkled piece of parchment paper out to him. When Yuri only looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, he motioned with it a little. He took it after a moment and examined the contents.

"What the hell is this supposed to be?"

"An apple tart from Ms. Karan who runs the Six Asters. She asked me to give it to you."

"So you followed me all the way out here for this? How stupid can you get?"

That was not the real reason though. Yuri took a bite of the tart and offered a piece to Repede. Flynn watched him eat it before continuing. "Where did you get those bruises?"

Yuri suddenly remembered the fading bruises that dotted his body from a few nights before. He touched one that still stung a little at his neck and smirked. Could this simple knight have been jealous over the origin of these? "Oh these? Richard, that guy from the inn the other night who you scared away with your death glare, was kind enough to give me these."

"Who is he?"

"A buddy of mine who doesn't mind satisfying my needs every now and then."

He looked freshly disgusted, glancing away and letting out a short breath before looking back. "Why are you going to Heliord?"

"I think you already know the answer to that." Flynn had, after all, been a witness to what Yuri had done to Ragou.

"Why?"

"That's not any of your business."

"It is my business if it's going to end like I think it will. Why would you knowingly become a murderer?"

"Why do you care?" Yuri's question sent Flynn staggering back a step in surprise. Yuri rose to his feet; his verbal assault wasn't through yet. "If what I do makes the world a slightly better place, it's worth it. You can't tell me that lives weren't saved because I put that bastard Ragou down."

"He should have been tried in a court of law for the things he's done." He was still clinging to that, even if the look on his face betrayed the tiniest hint of losing it.

"And in the meantime, how many more people would have died at his hands? Would imperial law do anything to someone who is the maker of that law?"

"If the law is flawed, then work to change it. If something in the system is broken, work to fix it."

"What power to change anything do the people like those who suffered have? What kind of power to change things do you or I have? None."

"You're wrong! Everyone has the power to change things, if they only work hard enough."

"Oh, okay. So maybe if the people of Capua Nor had only worked harder, Ragou wouldn't have fed them to monsters lurking in that sick maze of his." His anger was quickly consuming him and if this ended like their last several arguments, he would be ready. He could much more easily portray his emotions through fighting than through words.

"That's not what I'm saying!" Flynn flushed with anger, his fingers tightening. His temper was getting the better of him very quickly and he would leave himself vulnerable to attack, either physical or verbal at this rate.

"Sure sounds like it."

Flynn lunged at him, hands curled tight into fists. Yuri sidestepped, but Flynn whipped around and tackled him by the waist, throwing him into the grass. If the blond expected to knock the wind out of him, he was mistaken. Instead, Yuri shifted slightly and rolled, pinning Flynn. He hated to admit it, but the knight was getting stronger. He still hadn't been able to best Yuri and this was not going to be the place where that happened.

Flynn tried to push back against him, flailing wildly in his rage, but Yuri shoved him back hard.

"It must be nice to get to speak of such pretty ideals and then not have to do anything to actually change things!"

He was stunned into silence.

"Have you ever had to sleep on the streets? Steal from someone who is working hard to feed their own family because you haven't eaten in a week? Have you ever been without food? Without clothes? Without shoes or a roof over your head?" Yuri's blood was boiling and he wasn't holding his tongue this time. "What chance do people who live like that in the Empire have? What power do they have to change things, even if they work themselves to death? None. What good are the Knights, the Council, the Commandant, the Law, doing for them? None."

"That's why I want to change things. Because there's another way. What good has anything you've done done to change things? You and I both know that the things you've done haven't changed anything at all."

Yuri grabbed him by the collar and Flynn's hands struggled against him as Yuri began to pummel his face. No one ever made him as white hot with rage as this delusional knight did. It was a welcome change though to the iciness that he usually felt when rage overtook him.

"What you're doing doesn't make you any better than them!"

"Don't you think I know that?" His last punch landed on the side of Flynn's forehead hard enough to knock him out cold. He stood, wiping his bloodied mouth on his hand and stared down at the blond for a moment. "I've known that for years."

Repede whined at his side and bent to sniff Flynn.

"We can't have him following us." Yuri pulled a length of rope from his pack and quickly tied Flynn's wrists behind his back and his ankles together and propped him up against a tree. He set up a scent barrier to keep the monsters away. As much as he was ready to be rid of the more-righteous-than-thou knight, he didn't need him getting eaten. Estelle would never forgive him. He stopped, watching the still unconscious man for another long moment. "Your ideals are pretty, but too perfect for me."

He shouldered his pack and he and Repede started on their way once more. Here he had been looking forward to a bit of sleep for the first time in days, but the adrenaline burning through his body prevented any hope of sleep entering his mind. It was probably for the better though, since this meant that he would finish this mission faster.

When he was done, he would return to retrieve the idiot tied up in the woods and go back to Dahngrest, empty from the fading of his cold rage once more.

* * *

The sky was dark grey, heavy with a blanket of storm clouds threatening rain when they arrived in Heliord. There were less knights here than the last time he had had the pleasure of visiting. With luck, his target would still be here.

Repede trotted off to scout ahead around the fort and he crouched for a long while in the brush in the woods just beyond, watching the movements of the knights, both on the platforms above and in the labor camp below. It was less heavily guarded than he had expected, especially considering that he and Flynn had escaped only a few days earlier. Even still, just him and Repede entering with weapons brandished seemed ill advised, especially along the upper platforms. He only saw so many knights, but they would be overcome by others if they were not careful. The labor camp, however, had only two guards, one in the front by the gate and the other in the back by a lift. He could sneak in under or over one of the shoddily assembled walls, take out the lift guard and make his way u--

"Fancy meeting you here."

Yuri turned quickly, nearly jumping out of his skin and drawing his sword.

Judith merely smiled down at him in her ever knowing and somewhat infuriating way. He had not even heard her approach.

"What are you doing here?"

"There's something here that I need to take care of."

"A blastia?"

"Not exactly. What about you?"

"There's something I have to take care of too." She probably knew already, but thankfully she didn't question him on it. She was sharper than anyone he had ever met.

"Do you have a plan to get in?"

"I was thinking I'd scale the wall of the camp and knock out the guard at the lift."

"No good. They've got a blastia perimeter alarm. So it looks like it's through the front gate."

"How long have you been scoping this place out?"

"A while."

"How are we going to get past the guard and not alert all the others?"

"You could seduce him," Judith said jokingly, but Yuri quickly felt like she wasn't joking. "I've heard that you're quite good at that."

"Or _you_ could seduce him." Most men could hardly resist Judith, with her exotic and voluptuous figure.

She sighed and tilted her head. "But I'm no good at that game. Besides, with the right outfit, we'd hardly be able to keep them off of you." She reached over and threaded a hand through the ends of his hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail. "Yes. I think you'll do quite nicely with the right outfit."

"Fine. What did you have in mind?"

Only minutes later, he regretted this plan. The clothing she had chosen was ridiculously constricting and where had she even gotten it? Normal people didn't just walk around with clothes like this on them for no reason, and if they had a reason, it likely wasn't a good one.

She took a step back, staring at him, tapping her lips with one finger. He tried to pull the pants up, but they wouldn't budge an inch over the lowest part of his hips, and the shirt, if it could be called one, provided a good view of even more of his skin. "Not bad, but it's missing something." She went back to digging through her travel pack.

"I don't see what else it could be missing. I don't have anywhere to put anything."

"Here we are." Her smile turned vaguely wicked as she produced a pair of items, one long and dark and two pronged, the other similarly colored, but round and about the size of her fist. "Now this will finish it off."

"Judy, no. I mean it. No."

"Oh, come on." Before he could escape, she grabbed him and with lightning speed, applied the two items and took a step back. "I think they suit you rather well." She suppressed a giggle.

He tugged on one of the black bunny ears she had fitted him with, but they didn't give. Looked like they were stuck. He didn't have any difference in luck with the tail attached to his tight pants.

Repede returned from his scouting just in time to see him and make a series of snorting noises that Yuri knew was laughter. That didn't help the flush of embarrassment rising in his face and neck. "Oh, shut up. Both of you." He fastened his sword scabbard to Repede's chain collar. "Carry this for me, will you? I don't have a place to put it and approaching with it in hand seems like a bad idea."

The dog warrior wuffed and let out another brief round of laughter.

"Good luck, Yuri."

He didn't need luck. He needed a pair of pants that didn't feel like they had been painted on and a shirt whose grommets and laces didn't dig into his flesh. Why he needed a special outfit for doing something he already had experience at was beyond him.

Yuri took his steps out of the woods carefully and moved toward the front gate. The guard seemed to be napping, but just when he thought he could sneak right past him and into the camp, he jolted awake, reaching for his sword.

"Who goes there?"

Yuri shifted on one foot as he stopped, cocking his hip to the side. "Sorry, I was just passing through when I got lost."

The guard pulled up the faceplate on his helmet, probably to get a better look at Yuri. When he had gotten an eyeful, a pale pink flushed his cheeks. "No civilians allowed in this area." His voice cracked a bit and he tentatively licked his lips a little, stealing sideways glances at Yuri.

"And here I was hoping for a little fun." He smirked, sliding his hands down his slender waist to the edge of his pants that hung low on his hips.

"What?" The knight was surprised, but from the look on his face, had caught on to Yuri's meaning.

He leaned in, sliding one hand up the knight's sword arm. "How about we go behind those bushes and I show you a good time?" Before the knight could stutter a reply, Yuri curled his hand into a fist and punched him right in the nose. The guard crumpled to a heap on the ground beside the camp wall.

Well, he had done more to get out of worse situations than that, but it didn't matter now. He was in. Repede trotted in behind him and waited behind a few of the camp tents as Yuri tried to blend in as best he could. It was a difficult task in his current outfit, but he would manage. He need only take out the lift guard and get to the upper platforms to find his mark. He scanned the edges of the parapets, eyes passing over the caged and rotting skeletal remains that hung there like grim trophies of war and he immediately fixed on one. Bare bones dressed in civilian clothing and along the right arm was a bronze gauntlet that covered most of the forearm, hanging lose with no flesh to cling to. Even from this distance, he knew the pattern work and each notch in the metal imbued in battle. He had recognized it even in the dark as they had fled Heliord the first time. It was one of the reasons for his return to this place of death.

"Niren." He took a long, ragged breath and his hand subconsciously moved to the bodhi blastia bracelet on his wrist. This was no time for him to be getting sentimental.

Yuri moved further into the camp and wasted no time in finding someone to question. It was a ragged old man, thin from malnourishment and hobbled from many years of hard work. He was sitting crossed legged beside one of the plain canvas tents, his work weathered hands fumbling with fixing a broken hammer. "Hey there, Gramps." He knelt down to talk to him.

A pair of milky eyes looked up at him, a bit confused. "Who're ya?"

"No one important. Do you know where I can find the guy who runs this place?"

"Magistrate Cumore?" The old man pointed with a shaking hand to a large building up on the platform. Yuri had initially assumed it was a conference hall or barracks, but he knew that with the kind of extravagant person that Alexander Cumore was, he should have expected that the largest building in town would be his residence.

"Thanks." He moved to stand, extending his legs just as a pair of boots came from behind a row of nearby tents. Shit. Another knight he hadn't planned on.

The knight looked at him, but with the helmet on, Yuri couldn't see what he might have been thinking. He reached instinctively for his sword, only to remember that his partner had it. The dog started toward him, knife drawn to defend him, yet unseen by the guard.

"You must be the one for tonight."

"What?" Smooth, Yuri.

"Come on. Captain Cumore's been waiting for you."

Yuri motioned to Repede to fall back and he allowed the knight to approach. He wanted to question further and opened his mouth to do so when he nearly bit his tongue in surprise. The knight grabbed the tail on the back of his pants and slid his hand down, grabbing the curve of Yuri's buttocks, feeling firm flesh not so well hidden beneath those uncomfortably tight pants.

"I guess you'll do." He pulled his hand back, seemingly undeterred by the scowl Yuri was wearing. He took Yuri by the wrist and drug him to the lift, muttering to himself about the captain's habits and wants and how all of this was not in his job description. The lift took them both to the upper platforms, and the knight continued to pull him along to the large house that the old man had pointed out. They stopped at the door and the knight took out a long piece of dark fabric. Yuri didn't argue as he was blindfolded and his hands restrained by the cloth. The knots were clumsy at best and the fabric sheer enough to still allow him a little sight, so he played along. The knight knocked on the door and then entered the building.

Yuri was led somewhat blind through the halls of the structure, but he remembered each step and turn without his eyes to guide him. The final room where they stopped was dimly lit, allowing him to see shadows of forms, but little else.

"Here you are, Captain."

A figure slunk toward him, humming a little, and Yuri could feel eyes all around him as the figure circled him like a vulture. "Hm. Not quite my usual." He recognized the lilting hiss of the voice as belonging to the pale and periwinkle haired captain who had imprisoned him before. A hand reached up out of the darkness and grabbed the end of his ponytail and he could feel his hair slide through fingers. "He does have a certain charm though. You're dismissed."

The knight took hurried steps out of there, leaving Yuri alone with Cumore. This was turning out to be much easier than he had expected.

"You're much prettier than I'm used to, I must say." Cumore's hands moved across his shoulders and down his arms. "I do hope you don't disappoint me. You only get one chance after all. I'm sure that you don't want to end up like the others before you. The last garbage I threw away was a waste of my time."

"I promise you won't be disappointed."

"We'll see." Cumore pulled the end of the knot on Yuri's hands and the cloth became instantly slack and slid away. He leaned in, looping his arms around Yuri's neck and licked a hot, wet trail from the tip of his chin to his ear. Cumore's breath had so quickly become heavy and the tension in the lower body pressed against Yuri's made it very clear how excited the Captain was. Yuri felt nothing, even as Cumore reached down to work at his belt before letting his hand trail down between Yuri's legs. "A little hard to get it up, I see."

He caressed and stroked, but still Yuri fought to hold his body back out of pure disgust.

"You're no good to me if you can't get hard. Maybe you just need some encouragement." Cumore tugged on the blindfold, pulling it away and letting Yuri see once more. The Captain moved to the large bed along the far wall and knelt on it, pulling away pieces of his brightly colored imperial uniform in a way that one might consider sensual. He sighed and moaned, sliding his hands along his body. He tilted, rubbing his body against one of the rails of the four poster bed, and leaned forward, jutting his buttocks into the air. "Get over here, you filthy commoner."

Yuri picked up the fabric that had bound his hands and covered his eyes and moved over to the bed. Cumore was waiting eagerly for him. He took the length of cloth and, quickly and with deliberate roughness, bound Cumore's hands tightly to the bed post and the Captain let him. He followed in the same manner with Cumore's ankles. He was without his sword, and he needed a tool to carry out his mission.

"You're rather strong." Cumore struggled lightly against the bonds, but they didn't give and he didn't seem to understand the seriousness of his situation. He rolled onto his back, his legs splayed at the knees and he glared up at Yuri. "Don't keep me waiting much longer. I'm not a patient man."

"You won't have to wait long." Yuri knelt on the bed, leaning over Cumore, one hand groping for the sword belt that lay across the bed and the dagger that it held. His fingers found its cold, decorated hilt and he drew it toward himself slowly. The Captain hadn't even noticed. With luck, he wouldn't until it was too late.


	25. Chapter 25

Author's Notes: And here's some more Heliord.

* * *

 

Flynn woke to a hundred hungry eyes shining around him, piercing the dawn mist of the forest. He hadn't been out long, as evident by the ache lingering in his head and the sun only just rising. Yuri had still gotten a substantial head start on him.

He swore and fought with the knots in the rope that bound him. When the knots wouldn't give, he rolled onto his knees and scooted his way across the ground to his sword. The monsters watching took a step back, repulsed by the scent barrier that Yuri had left hanging around his neck. He fought just as hard with the handle of his blade to reveal even an inch of sharp metal. In Zaphias, Yuri had made drawing a sword while bound look so easy. In fact, it was not.

He really should have expected something like this from Yuri. It seemed that once he set his mind to something, there was no stopping him. But Flynn was going to stop him.

Finally, Flynn managed to inch enough of his sword from the scabbard and he knelt to work the tight bonds on his hands across the sharp edge of the blade. Slowly the rope frayed and finally snapped, leaving his wrists bare and bruised. He picked apart the knot around his ankles and snatched up his sword as soon as he was free.

He left the scent barrier on and monsters fled from him. The less he had to fight now, the quicker his trip would be. He rushed in the general direction of Heliord and a few hours later found himself yards from the entrance of the fort's labor camp. One knight sat at the wall surrounding the camp, presumably unconscious from his slumped posture. Yuri had already been here and Flynn prayed that he wasn't too late. He wandered cautiously into the camp, careful not to wake the guard and approached the first person he saw, a middle aged, haggard looking woman at a large pot of laundry.

"Excuse me, Miss. Has a man with very long black hair come through here?"

"Aye. Just a few moments ago. 'E was headed upstairs with onna the knights. He's not the Cap'n's usual, but this one might survive."

With a worried whine and wuff, Repede approached. It didn't take Flynn more than a second to noticed the sword tied to the links of the dog's chain collar and realize that it was Yuri's. Had he been captured? What could have happened in just a few minutes' time to cause him to leave his sword with his partner?

Flynn knelt and petted the dog. "Where's Yuri?"

The dog wuffed and swished his tail. He put his nose to the ground, tracking Yuri's scent through the camp and to a lift along the back. Flynn followed, his eyes catching once more the numerous bodies hanging from the walls, skeletal remains caged and strung up as examples. No doubt, Yuri was here to avenge them.

He was surprised to find the lift unguarded, but before he could question why, he urged himself forward and worked the controls to take him and Repede upstairs. It shuddered and began moving and came to an abrupt halt at the top battlement. As soon as they reached the top, the din of a fight reached his ears, and Repede's as well, because the dog went bounding forward, tearing across the stone platform, leaving Flynn to follow in his dust. He tried to keep up from behind the dog as they approached the fight. Flynn was at least a little surprised to see not Yuri, but the Krityan, Judith, whom he called a friend. She was taking out knights en masse with her powerful spear strikes and footwork. From what he had observed of her fighting in the bar brawl from their first night in Dahngrest and the battle at the Tower of Gears, he knew she was a force to be reckoned with. The fact that she was a friend of Yuri's should have really been his first clue to her strength.

"My, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Have you seen Yuri?"

She tilted her head a bit, smiling a little broader as if she knew something he didn't. "I last saw him in the labor camp. I'm sure he's hopping around here somewhere."

A high pitched scream broke off further conversation and Flynn and Repede turned in the direction it came from. He turned back to say one last thing to Judith, but she was already gone, so he kept moving forward.

Repede led him to a large building that was unguarded. He opened the door and they rushed in. Hopefully, they weren't too late to stop Yuri from doing something stupid. Thankfully, they were not. Had the situation not been so dire, it might have been easily construed as hilarious.

Yuri was leaning over the naked and bound but struggling Cumore, the point of a dagger like those carried by the Imperial Captains pressed against the knight's throat. Yuri was dressed ridiculously, in dark clothing that barely fit, but certainly accentuated every curve of his body, and a pair of black, slightly bent bunny ears. Flynn was pretty sure he saw a tail too. That must have been what Judith had meant when she'd said 'hopping around'.

He was given only a passing glance by Yuri as he pressed in more on Cumore, undeterred by Flynn's presence. Cumore struggled back further, shouting.

"F-Flynn Scifo! Please! Call this mongrel off! Make him spare me! I'll give you anything. A pardon?! A position as Captain?! Anything you want! Just name it and it's yours!"

"Yuri, stop this!" Flynn was beside them in a flash, one hand on the blade of the dagger. "Whatever he's done, it doesn't deserve this."

"Doesn't deserve this? No, he deserves worse. I'm at least going to make it quick." The guildsman pushed back against him with his elbow.

"What right do you have to judge him?"

"What right do _you_ have to judge me?"

Flynn pushed against him, fighting to wrestle the dagger away. He slid his foot behind Yuri to knock him off balance, but the dark haired man must have seen that coming and stomped on his foot. He twisted, one arm reaching around to grab Yuri by the shoulder, and shoved him down. The guildsman clattered to the floor, dagger falling from his grasp and before he could stand, Flynn knocked it further away with his foot. He pinned the struggling Yuri down, dodging angry swings.

"Flynn, he's getting away!"

Cumore had managed to get the knot around his hands loose enough to escape and flee, barefoot out of the building. In his panic, he was screaming a name Flynn couldn't make out.

Repede went after him, barking wildly and Yuri knocked Flynn off of him and rose, falling into step. Flynn raced behind them and by the time he made it out the front door, Yuri was searching near franticly for his intended kill. Cumore was gone, only a puff of slate colored smoke left in his wake.

"He's gone...." The dark haired man wasted no time in turning his venom on Flynn, grabbing him by the throat and shoving him against the outer wall of the building they had just left. "He got away because of you!"

"Yuri--"

"Shut up!" He pulled Flynn off the stone only to shove him back once more, harder than before. He dropped him roughly and went about scanning the area.

"We can look for him. I'll help as long as you promise not to try to kill him."

"It's too late. He's long gone." Flynn felt like that was an odd assumption. Yuri growled and muttered. "I should have figured he'd be up to no good, too." He swore a few more times and started tugging on the black bunny ears. Pins clattered to the stone walkway as he walked back toward the left and the ears finally came loose from his hair.

"Why did you come here?" It felt like a stupid question the moment it passed his lips.

Yuri shot him a venomous glare, but said nothing as he sat on the battlement wall and swung his legs over.

"Wait, Yuri!"

"Would you stop shouting?" He dropped down and Flynn moved to the wall as fast as he could. Yuri had climbed down onto one of the cages and was working at the rusted lock. "I may have failed, but I'll at least retrieve this." He pulled the barred door open and took a worn, bronze gauntlet off the skeleton's arm.

"Robbing a dead man?"

"Fuck you." He passed the gauntlet up and climbed up after a moment of staring at the skeleton in a manner that Flynn hadn't seen from Yuri before.

As soon as the gauntlet was in Flynn's hands, he recognized it. "This is..."

"Niren Fedrock's. Niren may have just been your commanding officer for a few months, but he was my friend."

Flynn hadn't recognized it at a distance, but it was the piece of armor that he remembered Captain Niren wearing on the same arm that he wore the bodhi blastia that Yuri now wore. Even with this evidence in hand, it was difficult for him to believe that a man that he had admired and served under, even for a short time, was gone. And the fact that it had been done by the order of another Imperial Captain, seemed even further from belief. Why Niren? He had been a good man, a well-liked and respected soldier, a model knight, firm in his loyalty and his creed. He had retired from the knighthood shortly after Flynn's brief time at Ceazontania, but it had been an honorable ceremony befitting his service and sacrifice to his country. Was it as simple as his having been a guild sympathizer? It had been no real secret that he'd had old friends in the guilds.

Yuri snatched the gauntlet back and tromped to the lift. As soon as Repede was on it also, he hit the switch. He was silent as Flynn fumbled on nearly too late and after a moment, they landed in the camp. Yuri hopped off before it came too a halt, and moved right back to the front gate.

As they passed through the gate and back into the forest, Yuri grabbed his travel pack that he appeared to have stashed in the hollow part of a tree.

"What about Judith?"

"I'm sure that she's miles away by now with whatever she came for."

 

* * *

 

Barely another word was spoken between them the whole way back to Dahngrest. In spite of whatever Flynn would try to say, even so much as a simple thanks, was given the cold shoulder by the tight lipped and still enraged Yuri. He seemed calm enough outwardly, but in the heated mix of battle, he was as fierce as Flynn had ever seen. By the time they actually arrived back in Dahngrest, his anger seemed to have ebbed into silent hostility and Yuri disappeared with Repede into the Guild city. Flynn briefly entertained the idea of following, but, conflicted about how good of an idea that was, he did not. Yuri needed time to simmer down and he felt for some reason that there was no danger of Yuri making a run for it.

Estellise scolded him for taking off the way he had when he returned to Yuri's apartment. She inquired about why he had been gone so long, and he fumbled for an excuse. Luckily, Raven was there to save the day and explained that the Don had asked Flynn for a favor. He hated lying, but how else could he explain his disappearance? No one else knew about Yuri's secret.

Kaufman showed him what his duties aboard the ship would be and they spent the next day getting ready to sail. As their departure grew closer, he found himself unable to sleep once more, his body reliving that near death experience of almost drowning. Of all the times that would haunt him, it would be while he lay on Yuri's battered sofa, staring at the ceiling, trying to sleep the night before they set sail.

He rolled over onto his back when the door knob jiggled. 

Yuri entered and didn't give him a passing glance as he slumped into his bedroom. Even with only the dim street lights to illuminate the room, Flynn could see very fresh red marks on the pale skin beneath his open shirt. Either he had been in a fight or he had been to see a 'friend.' Either was a possibility. His mood didn't seem to have improved. Flynn thought for half a second about trying to talk, but all his previous attempts had been in vain so he held his tongue.

He was ignored the next morning as well, although Yuri acted friendly enough with everyone else. No one seemed to notice anything strange over their breakfast at Six Asters. He seemed normal and no one but Flynn noticed him slip Ms. Karan an extra bag of gald with the cost of his food. She passed off a large box of pastries to Karol and sent them on their way with the wish for a safe voyage.

After leaving Six Asters, they wandered in the opposite direction of the docks, to the bridge entering town on the east side.

"Shouldn't we be getting aboard soon?" Estellise asked. "Won't Ms. Kaufman be mad if we keep her waiting?"

"She asked us to meet another passenger here before we leave, so we're technically working right now."

"Hey, what's that?" Karol held all of his weight against the guard rail of the bridge, stretching and pointing to a glowing light in the distance that hung on the edge of the horizon.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a shooting star."

The ball of light grew nearer with great speed until they could very clearly see the form of a bird, massive and fiery, headed right for Dahngrest. It hovered and the earth below it shook as if it had landed. Its feathers were swirls of fire and air ground in stone and its beak bright gold forged in flame. It craned its enormous head and looked at them with intelligent and fiery eyes. For a long moment, there was only the beating of its massive wings, but it let out a shriek and moved its gaze to fix squarely on Estellise.

Before Flynn could jump in the way to protect her, Yuri had thrown himself between her and the monster, sword drawn and poised to strike.

 _Child of the Full Moon, you are an insidious poison of this world that must be purged._ A grave and echoing voice pierced their ears and they could only assume that it belonged to the monster.

"You... You can speak?" Estellise was transfixed, her hands trembling at her sides.

"Back off, bird."

_Do you think that the likes of you can defeat me?_

"I don't know, but I'll sure as hell try!"

A great clamor came from across the bridge in town and it grew louder as it came closer. They were overtaken by the people of Dahngrest, brandishing anything they had and shouting, banging pots and pans, sword, shields, spears, armor, anything.

"H-Hey!" Even Yuri was surprised by their sudden presence as they closed the gap between him and the monster. "Get out of here!"

"Leave Yuri and his friends alone!"

"Get outta our town!"

The bird hissed, rearing back a bit. It turned abruptly, pausing for a moment before hissing at them again and flapping its huge, flaming wings in order to lift itself away from the growing crowd. It took flight, the force of the movement of its wings nearly enough to blow them away, but they held firm. It streaked across the sky like a fiery star once more, disappearing.

The people of Dahngrest asked, "Are ya all right, lad?" and "What was that all about, Yuri?" but were met with a frustrated guildsman who complained about them endangering themselves over something as small as that. Even still, he thanked them as they disassembled their militia-esque ranks and returned to their daily lives.

"Everybody all right?"

There was a collective nod, but Estellise was visibly shaken.

"Estelle?"

"What did that monster mean? 'Child of the Full Moon, you are an insidious poison of this world that must be purged.' I don't understand...."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to understand what he meant, but we have to go to Nordopolica. That comes first. Stopping Alexei and retaking the capital is our priority."

"All right then. It looked like he was headed in the direction of Desier, so maybe while we're in Nordopolica, we can get some information on him."

"That sounds good." She seemed much calmer now and once more set in her path.

"Sorry to make you all wait on me." For a second time, the sudden appearance of Judith surprised them. "Shall we be going?"

"Wait. You're the--"

"I made a deal with Kaufman for a ride, so I'll be joining you also."

Yuri ran a hand down his face in frustration and sighed. "Let's get going then."


	26. Chapter 26

Author's Notes: And the gang is off to Nordopolica. Am I the only one who found the Atherum more goofy than scary?

* * *

 

The Fiertia set sail before noon and they were on their way to Nordopolica. Yuri was not exactly pleased with the crew list, but he dealt with it anyway. Initially, he had been expecting to part ways with Estelle, Rita, and Flynn when they went to save the imperial capital. It wasn't his job. He and Raven were only going to Nordopolica for a simple message delivery. And the idea of Judith coming along had come completely out of nowhere.

And Flynn. That stupid blond had ruined everything at Heliord. Somehow, though, Yuri found it hard to stay mad at someone who was perpetually hung over the railing of the ship, losing his breakfast to the foam and the waves of the ocean at the slightest bit of rough sailing. Even through the seasickness, he went about the duties given to him by Kaufman, keeping the deck and cabin clean and mopping and working the sails and rudder, even if he slumped against the railing, green in the face when he was done.

Kaufman made Yuri the chef, which he didn't particularly mind, but he would have preferred being on deck with the ocean's salt spray and cool breeze in his face. Everybody came to the cabin that night for dinner, except Flynn and the helmsman Tokunaga. He knew why on both parts, but served the others first.

"Clam chowder?"

"Enjoy." He leaned over Kaufman, who nudged him playfully when he moved to deliver her bowl. She knew that her flirting with him was in vain, especially after a particularly amusing incident a few years before involving her bodyguard at the time, but that had never stopped her. Once he had delivered the food, he grabbed an extra bowl of chowder and something he had made for Flynn and went up on deck.

He rounded out of the cabin to the helm and handed Tokunaga off the bowl of chowder, which was received gratefully. He moved toward the bow of the ship, where Flynn was slumped in a pile of rope, still green in the face. His head was tilted back and his eyes closed.

"Here." Yuri plopped down and prodded him in the ribs with one of his elbows.

Flynn groaned and opened one eye, rocking his head forward just a little to look at him.

"It's not much, but it should help settle your stomach."

"Ugh. Why do you care?"

"I'm getting pretty sick of listening to you puking every time we hit a little wave."

It took him a moment to sit up and, when he did, Yuri handed over a bowl of plain fish broth and broke a roll of bread in half, giving him the larger of the two pieces. He took a slurp and ate a bit, and looked better for it.

"Not afraid I might have poisoned it?"

“You're not exactly the poisoning kind."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He stretched and leaned back, nibbling on the other half of the roll. He looked up into the dark blue-black night sky. That and the simple rocking of the ocean eased him a bit. He was still mad at Flynn, at Cumore, at the Empire, but he needed to move past the anger at Flynn at least so he could stomach traveling with him a little longer. There was no point dwelling on that negativity. The knight may have been stupid and disillusioned, but he was standing up for something he believed in. The anger was giving way slowly.

"Why do you let him do that to you?"

"What?" He turned with a bit of surprise over the suddenness of the question.

"The bite marks."

Of all the things they could have talked about, Flynn had picked that one again. "You say that like it's something I don't enjoy."

"Oh."

Just when he thought he'd shocked Flynn into silence, he spoke up again. "How long have you two been together?"

"Together? You've got it wrong. We just hook up casually when the need arises. We're not even friends."

Flynn nodded and finished his broth. "What's it like? Having friends, I mean."

Yuri sat up, staring over at him, completely disbelieving what he heard. "Are you serious? You can't tell me that you don't have at least one friend. What about Estelle?" Before he could answer, Yuri amended his statement. "Oh. Of course. In your mind, she's just a princess, someone who it is your duty to protect, not someone whose friendship you're worthy of. Do you have any siblings? It's kind of like that."

"I'm an only child."

Yuri sighed. "You're impossible." Not that he could say much. He didn't have any siblings by blood either, but he did have the experience of having had friends for the past eleven years. "Having friends is having someone you can trust to have your back when you need them. If you need help, they're there for you. And vice versa."

"I see." It didn't sound like he really did, but he let the subject rest.

Yuri stood. "Get some rest."

"Thanks."

He moved to the back of the ship, where Repede had settled in, dozing lightly. His ears perked as Yuri drew near and he raised his head with a yawn and a whine.

"Yeah, me, too." He sat down next to him and leaned back once more. The dog stretched and dropped his head in Yuri's lap and Yuri scratched the top and behind his ears. "Of course, I'm still mad. How could I let that bastard get away after what he did?"

Repede whined once more and let out a small wuff.

"Don't worry, Repede. He'll pay for what he did to Niren. Garista will get his, too."

A soft groan 'arooo....' came from the dog, followed by a growl.

For a long time, he just laid there, stroking the dog's head, fingers playing in the purple and white fur and blue furred crest. "In the long run, I guess it's all my fault anyway. If I had managed to take care of Garista in Ceazontania, the war would never have progressed this far."

Repede leaned up, pushing Yuri's hand away with his muzzle, and licked his face.Yuri chuckled and swatted playfully at the dog, whose tongue-lashing only became more merciless.

"Cut it out, Repede!" His sides were starting to hurt from laughter. "Ugh! You're getting me all slobbery." A moment and a dog drool covered face later, Repede stopped, bumping against him and picking up the pipe from Yuri's lap that had fallen out of his mouth during the playful assault

Yuri had gotten more than his fair share of being laughed at over having a dog as his partner, but he didn't care. He and Repede shared a brotherly bond, and this dog could out fight any monster or man they'd ever encountered. He was the proud son of Lambert, an imperial war dog, who had died heroically in battle and who had been the partner of the man that both Yuri and Repede admired. He couldn't trust anyone else to have his back as he trusted Repede, and he doubted he ever would. Together they had suffered through the cold of winters, the rage of storms, the heat of battle, and so much more. Even with his amazing partner, however, there were still things Yuri had to bear alone.

He leaned back and looked up to the stars once more and for a long moment, there was only him, the stars, and the waves.

* * *

 

Only two days at sea and the others were already sick of sailing and ready to be in Nordopolica. Obviously, no one had warned them of the week long trip by boat. His stomach had calmed a bit, now used to the uneasy movements of the ocean, but he still found himself unable to sleep through the haze of adrenaline that washed over him every time he closed his eyes. His body just wouldn't let go of his brush with death. But the past two nights had proven insightful. He and the helmsman, Tokunaga, and Yuri and Repede slept on deck. While Karol and the females of the group enjoyed the warm comfort of the cabin. Both nights he had spied Yuri pacing the deck when he must have thought everyone else was asleep. He moved, quick and quiet, but would pause for several long moments at the edge of one side of the ship to stare upward. He would lift his charcoal gaze up and his eyes would become lost and distant among the millions of stars. Flynn had caught himself following that line of sight more than once, but was unable to see what seemed to entrance Yuri so.

Standing there, bathed in soft silver moonlight, ghostly, his skin looked even paler and his storm cloud eyes glittered in the light of the stars. Flynn realized that Yuri wasn't just attractive, in spite of his scars and his rough personality and whatever blood may have been covering his hands. He was beautiful and terrifying.

By the time the sun rose on the third day, Yuri was long asleep, curled up against Repede with a blanket. Flynn had already been awake for some time as his training often forced him up at what others would consider ungodly hours.

Kaufman trudged out of the cabin, yawning, but still looking over the deck with her same eagle eye that had made her one of the fiercest traders in Terca Lumireis. Her demeanor was often pleasant, but just beneath that was a woman who would fight to get what she wanted. She also took no small pleasure in pointing out every little mistake to Flynn as he went about his duties on the Fiertia. This morning was no different.

"You missed a spot." She pointed out an area he had mopped over twice already, but he didn't argue and merely mopped over it again, making sure to scrub harder this time. He had no intention of arguing with a woman who was allowing them passage to a place they needed to go, even if it was begrudgingly.

She wandered off after a moment, leaving him with his work, and he could hear her bother Yuri for breakfast. She had flirted with him almost incessantly, and Yuri always responded with sass. Flynn wasn't sure what she wanted from him, but was certain it was something more than of a business like nature. Yuri always took it in stride though, and Flynn watched out of the corner of his eye as the as the guildsman rounded the edge of the cabin and entered on the side. It wasn't too much longer before the scent of pancakes filled the air around the cabin and everyone was waking for breakfast.

"Ms. Kaufman...."

"What is it, Tokunaga?"

"There's something up ahead that you should see."

With panic in the helmsman's voice, Flynn left behind his breakfast and hit the deck with the others. Kaufman and Tokunaga were standing at the helm, eyes wide, jaws open in surprise.

Out on the horizon was the fiery bird from Dahngrest, but that seemed to be the least of their worries. Behind it, cutting through the ocean at an incredible speed was what looked like a gleaming metallic beetle of monstrous proportions. Beams of light flashed from it into the sky. As it drew closer and the water turned violent in its wake, they could see clearly that it was not a beetle, but in fact a ship firing at the bird. It was easily the size of the imperial palace, armed to the teeth with the most state of the art blastia weaponry that was suddenly turned on them.

"What the hell is that?!"

"A warship?"

Yuri pointed to the flag that whipped in the ocean wind, blue and gold."An imperial warship."

"I've never seen anything like that!"

"The Heracles...." Judith and Estellise were almost in unison.

"Whatever it is, it wants us gone!" Kaufman ran to the helm. "Tokunaga, get us out of that thing's path!"

"Easier said than done! We are in the open ocean!" He steered hard to the port side, just narrowly dodging a cannon blast.

The cannon strike hit the sea, throwing up steam as the water boiled red hot from the heat. The gleam of lights on the towers of the giant structure signaled that they were preparing to fire once more and they might not miss this time.

"Everybody, hold on!"

Yuri grabbed Karol by the collar and pressed him against the deck, eyes scanning the open sea. As the ship rocked hard to one side, he skidded across the deck to the helm. "Can you get us to that fog bank? We might be able to lose them there."

"Let's hope the ceres blastia can hold up."

"Leave that to me!" Rita rushed back toward the blastia engine, followed by Estellise shouting at her to be careful.

Tokunaga turned sharply once more, sending nearly everyone sliding across the deck just in time to dodge a second barrage of cannon blasts. the wake of the blast crashed against the desk, and the boat slammed into a series of rough, sharp waves. When the speed increased, Flynn knew that it must have been Rita affecting the blastia's controls directly. They skipped along the waves, putting distance between the Fiertia and the battleship. The fire bird continued its flight away from them, and after a long tense moment, the battleship continued its original pursuit just as the Fiertia drifted into the fog bank.

"That was close." Kaufman sagged a little against the wheel, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why was the battleship chasing that monster?"

"That was no monster. His name is Phaeroh."

"What do you mean, Judith?"

"My partner and I met him on our journey. He is very wise. And that battleship...."

"Is the Heracles," Estellise completed her sentence, tightening her fingers into the fabric of her skirt and staring down at the deck.

"What exactly is the Heracles?"

"All I know is that it is a secret project that was being worked on by the order of Commandant Alexei. I had no idea that it was already complete and in commission. Or that it was a weapon."

"I never heard anything about this." Flynn stroked his chin. He had worked directly under the Commandant, and if Alexei had been working on something of this magnitude, why hadn't he heard about it, but Estellise had?

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard about it from some of the members of the Council. The budget designated for its construction was an estimated 500,000 gald, but the project went well over budget due to Alexei's constant additions to the original plans."

"500,000 gald is a lot, even for a warship. But why was it after this Phaeroh?"

"It could be that the Empire wants something from him, or wishes to destroy a creature as powerful as him."

"Why was Phaeroh attacking Dahngrest though?"

Flynn feared that the monster had not been attacking the city, but instead had been focused on attacking Estellise. It was a conclusion that he had come to some days ago, while mulling over in his brain why a giant bird of fire would attack Dahngrest, yet get driven off by pots and pans wielded by citizens. It had done no damage to the city itself and could have easily if that had been its intention. And what of the barrier? That hadn't deterred it at all. He had heard it speak as well, a deep gravely echo of a voice like the sound of a river along a canyon's bottom, dry and brittle like the the arid desert. What was Phaeroh and what did he want with Estellise? Flynn couldn't easily forget his words.

_Child of the Full Moon, you are an insidious poison of this world that must be purged._

Nothing about Estellise was 'insidious'. She was good natured, pure, and kind to all who she met.

The engine sputtered and suddenly stopped and they were left drifting in the all encompassing fog. An uneasy chill filled the air around them and they couldn't see but a few feet beyond the bow of the ship.

"What the hell is wrong now?" Kaufman sighed. "Tokunaga, go check the engine."

The helmsman disappeared around the cabin to the engine room, followed by Rita. They returned after a few moments just as the boat stopped dead in the water. Rita was ashen faced, barely suppressing a shiver.

"The engine needs some repair. We really had to work the ceres blastia in order to escape. It'll take some time to repair, but there's something that you should see."

He lead them around the cabin to the rudder. The ship had bumped into something lingering there in the mist. It was another ship, huge and old, the wood long darkened and derelict with age.

"The Atherum...." Estellise read the word emblazoned across the ship's bow.

It was an old ship, far older than any Flynn had ever seen, barnacles clinging tenaciously to more than half of the ship. Above, the mast was broken, sagging against the deck for support, and the sails long ago shredded and crumbling. It was no longer flying a flag and looked as though it hadn't for some time. It was a barren wooden husk, devoid of life, floating in the sea.

"Get us away from that thing. It's giving me the chills." Kaufman shivered, rubbing her upper arms in agitation.

"Afraid we're stuck, Ma'am. At least until we get the blastia working."

'How long is that going to take?"

"A couple of hours." Rita was examining the blastia's control panel with a less than amused expression. "We didn't burn it out, but I'll have to run a diagnostic before I can determine what the problem is and take the appropriate measures to fix it."

"So you're telling me that we're dead in the water with that Heracles loose?"

"I don't think we have to worry too much about that. It seemed more interested in Phaeroh then a little merchant ship." Yuri's eyes looked over the dark and tattered ship and cracked a smile. "While Rita's working on that, why don't we go check this thing out?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Not at all. Repede and I are going. Who else is coming along?"

There were a million things wrong with Yuri's plan aside from it being just plain unsafe. Who knew what kinds of monsters had inhabited an abandoned ship? And the structural integrity of a ship that looked to have been in the water for at least a hundred years was in question as well. They could step on deck and everything could crumbled underneath them.

"I'd like to go," Estellise answered, completely unaware of the risks of such a dangerous action.

"Me too," Judith added, appearing as though she just didn't care about the possible risks.

"I'll be waitin' here." Raven slumped down against the wall of the cabin. "This old man's too old to be explorin' ghost ships."

"G-Ghosts?" Karol chattered, and Estellise repeated in a much less afraid fashion.

"Do you really think there are ghosts on that ship, Yuri?"

"I suppose anything's possible." The guildsman ruffled Karol's hair. "Hey, boss. I need you to stay here and keep an eye on the Fiertia and protect Ms. Kaufman, okay?"

"O-Okay, Yuri!" The boy's face became determined and his shivering stopped. Flynn knew exactly why Yuri was avoiding embarrassing the child over a fear that was normal for a boy his age by instead giving him a mission that kept him both out of danger and boosted his confidence. He didn't make the boy look afraid, instead, brave to be watching the ship in his hero's absence.

"Yuri, you can't just leave--"

"Don't worry. You've got Karol here to protect you, and Rita, the Old Man, and Flynn."

"I'm coming with you.” This was the last thing he needed right now, but he had to go to protect Lady Estellise.

Yuri cocked an eyebrow at him. "Suit yourself then."

"This isn't funny."

"You've still got these three. You'll be fine while we're gone."

Kaufman pouted, turning away from them. "Fine. Don't take too long or we'll leave you here."

Yuri just smirked and pulled the gangplank out to run between the two ships so they could cross. He went first, testing the strength before extending his hand to Estellise to help her up and over. Repede and Judith followed and finally Flynn moved to cross. He didn't look down or at least he struggled not to. He didn't need to get seasick again, and hopefully his focus on protecting Lady Estellise would occupy his mind while they explored the ruined ship. He crossed slowly, nearly fumbling onto the Atherum's deck.

The look of the deck was worse than he had expected.There were holes in the rotting wood, perhaps from age or monsters or damage taken in battle.Each board creaked as they moved but Repede traced them a safe, zigzag path where the wood was the strongest allowing them to move. It was dead quiet. At this height, he could not hear the waves of the ocean or feel its winds. It was dead and still, heavy, dark and silent.

"What could have happened here?" Estellise asked, looking around curiously as they mounted the broken steps to the quarter deck. She touched the railing of the stairs with one finger, lifting only the freshest layer of dust from atop years' worth caked there.

"Who knows? Maybe we can find something inside." Yuri and Judith both looked much too excited to be on a rickety old 'ghost' ship.

He put one hand on the handle of the door to the cabin, but the rusted knob collapsed into his hand, leaving only a hole in the door where it had once been. Yuri's next step was to pry the door open, but the door was well made in spite of its age and put up a fight, holding tightly in its frame. When he was unable to budge it along, Flynn aided the effort and the two of them rammed the door with their shoulders. The wood gave way, splintering slightly at the old iron hinges that held it in place, and the door slammed against the inner wall.

"Well, if anything's in here, it knows we're here now."

Repede entered, sniffing his way down the long hall. They followed him and as soon as Flynn cleared the doorway, the heavy door that had taken both of them to open, slammed shut.

The dog growled low in his throat, the fur of the blue crest down his back bristled and his tail arched in warning.

"I guess something is here." Yuri said that like it was nothing to him. After all, he was supposed to be an accomplished fighter. What were a few ghosts to someone like him? He touched Repeded on his shoulder and the dog eased a bit. "Thanks. Let us know if you see anything."

The dog wuffed and they continued to venture down the corridor.

Flynn couldn't figure out for the life of him why the halls were lined with mirrors. They were as old as the ship, the salt air causing the silver backing to flake off. A few of them were cracked, but all of them seemed mostly intact. He paused for a moment to look into one, his fingers running along the smooth, dusty glass surface. A chill came over him, sharp, cold and tinged with fear. It gripped him by the back of the neck and for an endless moment, he was unable to move.

The mirror darkened, a pool of blackness spreading from his touch, bubbling and seeping across the surface of the glass. He could only watch, frozen, brain a muddle of thoughts as the darkness took shape, a tall, muscular, noble silhouette that he would have recognized anywhere.

"Father...."

_Flynn._

The form opened its mouth and more darkness spewed out, leaving the silvery barrier of the mirror and heading for him in a dark cloud.

"Flynn, hurry the hell up." Yuri's voice was a distant echo to his ears.

_Flynn...._

"What the hell is keeping you? Hurry and catch up, or you'll get left behind."

A rough hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him away from the image of his father in the mirror. He spun and his eyes caught Yuri's, whose bit of concern melted easily to anger. Flynn could hear Yuri draw his sword and the scabbard clatter to the floor behind him. Everything was slow and hazy and the voice and the darkness filled his ears.

_Flynn. Come with me._

"Shit!" Yuri pressed forward through the fog and the haze.

Flynn fought to move, to stop him. _No, Yuri! Please!_

He was too late as the guildsman's sword rent his father in two, crashing through the mirror and sending shards of glass and fragile bits of darkness across the floor.

The fog lifted and the voice in his head disappeared. Rage filled his blood, adrenaline bursting into him, and he threw Yuri back in anger, his eyes stinging. His father. How could Yuri-- His father was innocent. Noble, perfect, and just. The kind of knight that all others had aspired to be. Yuri had killed him, cut him down, the guilds had killed him, the Union had killed him, and for what?! Why had his father died and why had Yuri done it?!

"What the hell, Flynn?" Yuri picked up his scabbard, sheathing his sword, but Flynn had his own in his hands already and he wasn't sure why.

"How could you?!"

"Okay. Next time, you can save yourself. If you're done playing with the mirror wraiths, I'd like to keep going."

"Mirror wraiths...?"

"I read about them once. They're incorporeal monsters known to inhabit mirrors left uncovered in abandoned buildings. They can take different forms in order to entrap their prey."

"You really know your stuff, Estelle." Judith smiled, as unconcerned as she ever seemed.

"Thank you, Judith." The princess blushed a little.

"What that means is 'stay away from the mirrors.' Monsters love eating stupid people."

Everything else was bad enough without being called 'stupid' on top of it. Flynn shook off the chill clinging to his bones and the fiery adrenaline burning his skin and moved past them quickly without another word.

Even if Yuri had been defending him against a monster, he was still enraged. With all that had happened in the past few weeks, his father's death had been a distant thought, sitting cold and heavy and quiet in the back of his brain. He had all but forgotten the circumstances that prevented his father, the noble third captain of the Imperial Knights, to return home from his tour of duty. He had died at the hands of a guildsman, perhaps even someone like Yuri who would take out an officer of the opposing army to even the odds of the war and put the odds ever so slightly in the Union's favor. And here was Flynn, working alongside the very person who might have done it, or at the very least, the person whose kinsmen could have.Even if that had been an illusion that Yuri defeated just now, it didn't change what had happened only a few weeks earlier when he had received word of his father's death along with the casket that had borne only his tattered uniform, and battle ruined sword and shield. Just because they were working together now and he had at one point felt a fleeting flash of desire for Yuri, did not change what had happened or what was to come.


	27. Chapter 27

As they continued their investigation of the rotting old ship, the halls finally gave way to a open stairway that led down to a lower floor. The sounds of the sea water lapping against the sides of the ship grew as they descended, causing Yuri's ears to ache. The pressure built as they hit the bottom of the stairs and were confronted with a choice. There were two doors, one on either side of the room adjacent to the staircase.

"We must be pretty deep in the ship about now." Judy stared upward, her crimson eyes scanning the ceiling.

"The skill put into the ship is amazing, and I don't see any power systems like a blastia framework that would give it motion. I wonder how long ago it was built." Estelle passed a hand down one of the curved support beams, her fingers trailing over the fading, ornate woodworking. She moved to each of the doors, examining each of them as well. Yuri had to admit that he was impressed with her lack of fear toward what had already proved to be a dangerous place. She was careful but not overly cautious. The idea of ghosts seemed to appeal to her more than instill fear in her. Yuri personally wasn't afraid of ghosts, but he didn't like the idea of an enemy that he couldn't touch. And the idea of the mirror wraiths possibly lurking in the mirror lined rooms and halls didn't sit well with him either.

Yuri had no idea what Flynn had seen that had put him on edge so much, but he had barely said a word since the incident when Yuri had ripped him away from the mirror that he had been stupid enough to stop and stare into. The mirror wraith had been reaching for him and he had just stood there, entranced by whatever form it had taken. Yuri was a little curious, but not curious enough to ask.

He opened one of the two doors, the eastern most, and found a simple storeroom, lined with bookshelves and heavy clay pots. Estelle opened a one of the books, but it was so old that its yellowed pages crumbled in her hands. The pots didn't fare much better.

"If pottery like this is in such a state, this ship must have been drifting for a very long time."

"How long do you think, Judy?"

"More than a couple of centuries. Probably closer to a millennium, but it's very hard to tell because of the way the salt air effects things like this." She held a fragment of one of the pots in the palm of her hand. "I don't recognize the patterning or the method of firing."

The thought of any ship drifting along in the push and pull of the ocean for a thousand years seemed farfetched at least. Wouldn't some sort of natural phenomenon have destroyed it by now? The high seas were a dangerous place, fraught with monsters, but also storms, whirlpools, waterspouts, and all manner of other natural weather disasters that could have easily sunk a ship like this years ago. Even mighty imperial warships were no match for the forces of Terca Lumireis, except maybe that juggernaut Heracles.

"As interesting as antiques are, we should keep moving. We don't want to keep Kaufman waiting too long."

The other door had to be forced open like the one on the floor above and once more, he and Flynn took to the task. This one was swollen from years of salt air and they had to slam into it as well. After a momentary struggle, it gave way and allowed them access to another dark, cobweb filled hall. As before, this one was lined with the same peeling but mostly intact mirrors.

"Great. More hallways. Just what I always wanted." He tried not to sound too excited.

Flynn shot him a glare and moved forward into the room, lips tight and pace quickened. The door at the other end of the hall seemed so near as they made their way through this hall as they had all the others before, but a growl from Repede stopped them midway through. With a sudden, thunderous sound, the door behind them slammed shut.

Yuri drew his sword, fingers curling tight against the handle. "Whatever you are, you better come out, because we're going to kick your ass one way or another."

The response that came to that was a heavy wooden gate crashing down just as suddenly, cutting them off from the exit.

He pressed himself against the gate, shoving as hard as he could with his shoulder while his eyes scanned the room, but it held solid. Judy, Estelle, and Flynn tried to help him lift it. It would not budge.

"What are we going to do, Yuri?" Estelle's voice was tinged with worry.

"We'll just have to break through. One way or another." He raised his blade. He would chop through this gate if he had to, but before he could he saw the mirrors darken out of the corner of his eyes. He turned, prepared to warn the others to keep their eyes off the mirrors, but it was too late.

Silence drowned out all the noises of the ship and the ocean in his ears, leaving eerie quiet in its wake. The darkness pooled in the mirror in front of him and took a shape that chilled him. It was himself. Dark and scarred, the notable difference was that the blood staining this mirror image of himself was very visible, covering his hands and face, splattered in his hair. His expression was cold and when he spoke, it was dark and terrifying.

_You will die alone._

"Yeah. I know that."

_You're no better than the people you've killed._

"Preaching to the choir."

_Murderer._

"Tell me something I don't know."

_No matter what you do, you'll never be able to change anything._

As hard as he tried not to let it go, that simple set of words pulled the fight right out of him. It left him, adrenaline fading as fast as it had flooded him. Dark lies filled his ears, but he took a deep, calming, chill breath. This wasn't real. It was only a monster feasting on his insecurities and he was sure the others weren't faring much better.

_Everything you've done, everyone you've killed, everything will all be for naught._

Yuri didn't reply. He tried to pull himself out of the inky darkness that surrounded him. He needed to know how the others were handling this. Had they been ensnared too? Were they fighting through their own demons? Their voices were distant to him, but he could hear each of them mumble to themselves, and he was sure that they were in the same shape he was. He had to break free. He wasn't going to let some mirror wraith turn him into a meal.

"Yuri!" A familiar voice pierced through that darkness, snapping him out of the trance the wraith had him in. He was standing there, sword in hand and a cloud of darkness that wore his silhouette was pulling its self out of the mirror and toward him.

Karol had come crashing through the door opposite of the gate that held them in place, Rita and Raven behind him. With some effort, the boy was chopping through the gate, but Rita blasted it away easily, somehow managing to not set the whole ship on fire. Yuri never thought that he would be grateful to be rescued by his young charge, but he certainly was now. He took his chance while he was free of the mirror wraith's hypnosis and struck. His sword cut through darkness and glass, shattering the mirror wraith and its portal. Raven, Rita, and Karol took out the other three mirrors, breaking Flynn, Estelle, and Judy free.

He kicked aside a shard of mirror while the others took a moment to catch their breath after the ordeal. "Everybody all right?"

"Yes. I think so." Estelle wiped her eyes quickly.

"Thanks to all of you." Judy smiled, but there was something sad about it, lingering just behind her eyes.

They collected themselves and Karol led them back the way they came. A few more corridors gave way to a long, tall room with a set of stairs in the middle of it. With there being no other doors, they headed up them, the wood soft beneath their feet as they climbed. The upper floor presented them with another two doors.

"We came from that way." Karol pointed to the eastern door.

"We had to climb around the back of the quarter deck." Rita didn't seem as annoyed as he would have expected, being pulled away from her work to come and look for them. Instead, her eyes kept scanning the room cautiously, never fixing on one thing for too long. Her face was still ashen.

"What's this way?" Yuri pointed to the other door.

"No idea. We heard the gate fall down below and we figured that's where we'd find ya'."

"I guess it could be another dead end."

The mage shivered from the depths of her core straight down to her toes. "Do you have to say it like that?!"

"Are you okay, Rita?"

"I-I'm fine!"

"Let's check it out. It can't hurt while we're here."

She made a gruff noise at him, turning away.

"Sounds like fun to me."

"Ya have a weird way of having fun, Judith darlin'."

"Do you think so?"

Yuri moved ahead, and for once, the door opened easily. The doorknob still worked and he could feel the mechanics slide as he turned the knob. He let the door swing open and was half surprised and half relieved when it revealed a room that wasn't lined with mirrors. Instead, it looked like a captain's quarters. There was a large, wooden desk in the center of the room, and a window behind it that gave him a view of the misty sea. Directly behind the desk was a red chair, its velvet cushion long covered in dust and flat with age, and seated in the chair was a bony form. The clothes the skeleton wore were tattered but had once been fine brocades, embroidered and fringed with lace. It was slumped against the desk, arms folded, and its feathered, tricorn hat having slipped off it bare skull. From this rate of decomposition, Yuri knew that this body had been here for a very long time.

"What did you find, Yuri?" Estelle poked her head in behind him and let out a little gasp when she saw the sight before them.

"I think I found the Captain."

She slid in, looking all around the room. She walked over to the skeleton leaning up against the desk and placed a hand gingerly on its bony shoulder. One of its arms fell away, clattering across the desk. She flinched back and spotted something as the others entered the room. "What's this?"

Yuri barely heard her as the others entered the room and he walked behind the desk, finding a yellow tome sitting open on a wooden pedestal before the view of the window. He didn't dare touch the old pages of the book; he had witnessed what had happened when Estelle had tried to read the ones in the store room. Amazingly though, the inked letters were still visible on the page, and he was able to read them.

"232 Year of Asule. 13th day of Bluerre..."

"Asule? Bluerre? What does that mean?"

"Those are archaic calendar terms from long before the Empire was founded. I think that their last use was probably over a thousand years ago." Estelle peeked over his shoulder to look at the book. He scooted out of the way to allow her tender touch access to the crumbling pages. She cleared her throat and began to read. "Five and forty days adrift, all supplies used up. Thirst and starvation run rampant through the ranks of the crew and many have turned their hands to end their own suffering. Even as I descend deeper into the madness that is overcoming my crew, I must not give in. I have found the object of my search, the clear ciel crystal. The sage has said that this crystal has the power to banish monsters, and for the sake of my village I have journeyed the world far and wide for this. I have it locked in the red chest, the gift from my dearest Yuefan. Soon I will return to her and my home of Yormgen. Soon I will be in her arms once more and we will all be saved."

"But he never made it home." Judy moved the skeleton's arm aside, revealing a red case. She picked it up. "I wonder if this is the chest that he wrote about."

"It's so sad that he was never able to get this home..." Estelle received it from Judy. She tried to open it, but it was locked. "I want to take this to his village. To Yormgen and give it to this Yuefan he wrote about."

"Estelle, that's madness! This has been here for over a thousand years! Who knows if this Yormgen even still exists?" Rita was of course quick to argue, but Judy overpowered that rationalization with another.

"I thought that you were on a mission. Does the Union really have time to follow a girl's every little whim when the fate of the Empire and the Union could be in the balance?"

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!"

"I'm sorry, Judith. You're right." Estelle hung her head a moment. "I just feel like this is something that I really have to do. I want to complete his quest and give this to the one who was waiting for him."

"I don't think anyone waits for a thousand years." Yuri didn't care to tromp on the princess's feelings, but Judy was right. They were on a mission and they didn't have time to go on a journey for a village that might not even still be in existence. The look on Flynn's face betrayed that he felt the same. For once, they were in agreement.

"I'll take it then." Rita took the chest from Estelle, who looked at her in shock.

"Rita..."

"I'm just an unbiased investigator. I have no affiliation with the Union or with the Empire. I can do what I want, when I want." She blushed faintly, tucking the box under one arm.

"Thank you, Rita."

Flynn took a few steps to the window, peering out into the fog. "There was a smoke signal. Could that have been from Tokunaga?"

"I guess that means he got the ceres blastia fixed. Lets get out of here."

Yuri led them out of the captain's cabin, not pausing even as Estelle stared back for a moment before Rita urged her onward. They took the opposite door, where Karol said that they had traced their initial path. It led them to another storeroom, where they climbed out the window and edged carefully along the railing that looped around the quarter deck. He was not surprised to find that the steps they had taken from the main deck to the quarter deck had crumbled, considering the crashing sound from earlier.

"How are we going to get down?"

"How about this?" From nowhere, Judy produced a coiled rope ladder.

"Where were you hiding that?"

"Is that important?"

Question for question left him a little stumped, and he just shook his head and dropped the rope over the edge of the deck and it unfurled onto the deck of the Fiertia. Kaufman and Tokunaga were waiting there for them, the scarlet haired guild leader looking at him impatiently, her hands on her hips. Yuri could hear the sounds of the blastia engine on the smaller ship working and he was glad to have things up and running again. The sooner they got to Nordopolica, the better.

They dropped down easily on the ship and collected themselves. Kaufman wasted no time in approaching him, wrapping her arms up around his neck in an embrace that might have made him uncomfortable if he wasn't used to it. Her bosom brushed up against his chest and her eyes and smile portrayed a seductiveness that she knew wouldn't effect him. Her charms would have made other men melt, but he never witnessed her treat other men this way.

"You're lucky I didn't abandon all of you."

"You wouldn't leave me behind, would you?" Yuri cocked an eyebrow at her, smirking, and gently loosened the grip of her arms around his neck.

"You're lucky you're cute," Kaufman grumbled and pulled away. "All right, Tokunaga. Get us back on course. I'm ready to be in Nordopolica now. Everybody back to your chores. We've still got a long way to go."


	28. Chapter 28

The mermen that Kaufman had warned them about hit them full force when they cleared the mysterious mist that had surrounded the Atherum and continued southwest to Nordopolica. Much of their days were spent fighting them off, and the distraction helped keep Flynn's mind off the rocking of the sea. The nights were still filled with the startling silence and Yuri pacing the deck, more solemnly than before.

They finally reached the port of Nordopolica on the seventh night, the Coliseum shining white in the light of the full moon. Fireworks popped and fizzled across the sky, flashing bright red, yellow, and purple. No doubt a celebration for a champion in the Coliseum bouts. Estellise and Karol stood on the bow of the ship as they prepared to dock, in awe of the display of light and fire. Tokunaga docked with Yuri's help and Kaufman headed down to the dock master to check in while she put the others to work unloading the precious cargo they had carried there. They still had no idea what it was, and Kaufman wasn't talking.

Flynn was glad to be off the ship and off of the ocean, his feet set firm on solid, unrocking, unwavering ground. The sea sickness drained out of him, and he felt infinitely better in a physical sense.

Even this late at night, the Coliseum city was abuzz with life. The markets were packed with people purchasing wares, placing bets on the fights to come, gossiping and trading stories. It was just as lively as Dahngrest, but he could tell that this place was far from the war, seemingly safe from the disputes between the Union and the Empire. These people were carefree and completely unconcerned with the arrival of strangers. With a port of this size, they must have seen ships going in and out all day long, day after day, bringing in the prosperity of trade.

"We should go ahead and head up to see the Duce." Yuri motioned with his thumb over his shoulder to the Coliseum.

"But this late at night?"

"From what I know, this place is most active at night, so I'm sure that Belius is too."

"You kids go on ahead. I'm gonna just grab a quick drink..."

Yuri grabbed Raven by the back of his jacket, yanking him away from a sign for a nearby bar and shoving him forward. "You too, Old Man. Gramps sent us both to meet with Belius."

Raven sighed, kicking a stone across the pavement.

"What is Belius like?" Estellise asked, as they mounted the long set of stone steps up to the Coliseum.

"I don't know. Gramps has told me a few stories about her. Apparently they've been friends for a long time. All I know is that she must be a tough old bird from the way that Gramps talks about her."

"I hope that she's willing to listen to what we have to say."

"Well, Gramps did and he's tough, so I'd say you've got a good chance here. Hell, she might even know something about Phaeroh."

Flynn followed behind them as they chatted, his fists curled in rage as he tried not to think about the events on the Atherum only days ago. They had an important meeting now, and if all went well, they would be returning to Zaphias to fix things in a matter of days. They would find Alexei and save Ioder, and take the capital back. They would fix this strange mess that the Commandant had made and maybe work out a peace agreement with the Union. But with the death of his father still fresh in his mind, and the sight of the mirror wraith that had worn his form struck down by Yuri, he wasn't sure that he wanted that.

He had offered the idea of peace to Don Whitehorse. He didn't want to be at war, but at the same time he wanted justice for his father, slaughtered in battle by Union forces. He had to separate himself from that and put that aside to move forward though. There were bigger forces at work and his personal feelings would just get in the way if he focused on anything else right now.

The Coliseum had several shops of its own, a bar, a betting parlor, and a small inn crammed in one corner. They turned to the right as they entered, following the rounding path through the shop area to a large set of doors. Raven pushed them open, and the long room beyond it revealed only more stairs, trailing in twain up to another floor. In front of them was an empty table with three chairs. Above hung a banner greeting fighters to the Coliseum. The scruffy man led them up the left side of the stairway to where an imposing man stood, arms crossed defensively. He was over six feet tall with short cropped deep red hair and a black patch covering his left eye. His good eye narrowed a little as he watched them approach, but he made no movement against them.

"We're here to see Belius."

He frowned, his brow knitted in concern. "The Duce will only see visitors on the night of the new moon."

"We've come all the way from Dahngrest." Yuri pulled a letter out of a pocket in his vest. "We're with the Union. Don Whitehorse sent us. It's pretty important."

"Pardon me. I am Natz, the acting representative of Lady Belius. If you have a message from Don Whitehorse, I will gladly deliver it to the Duce myself."

"Afraid not." Yuri pocketed the letter once more. "Orders were that the Old Man and I were to deliver it in person."

"You'll have to return the night of the new moon then."

He sighed. "I guess we don't have a choice."

"I will let the Duce know that messengers from the Don have stopped by."

"Great." Raven wasn't too happy about the predicament, but neither was anyone else.

They took the stairs down and went out the large door they had entered, then paused by one of the huge open arches to plan their next move.

"What are we going to do now? And why do we have to wait to see Belius until the new moon? That seems rather odd, don't you think?" Estellise was calm with her questioning, but Flynn could see the bit of panic in her eyes. They had both hoped that this would be easily worked out when they arrived in Nordopolica and that they could soon both be on their way home.

"Some people are just weird like that." Rita huffed, crossing her arms and staring outside. "Anyways, if she won't see us, she won't see us."

"Rita's right. We'll just have to wait until the new moon."

"How long is that?"

"Two weeks from now."

Flynn held back a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and fore finger. They had finally landed on solid ground after a week on the ocean and now it looked as though they were going to postpone everything for another two weeks to wait to talk to the leader of this city.

Was the Don testing them? He had sent them to spy at Caer Bocram. After they returned, they had been forced to wait several days more before getting a verdict, but he could almost write all that off as being because of everything that had happened in Dahngrest in just a few short days. He and Yuri had been captured at Caer Bocram and had escaped Heliord. The barrier blastia had been stolen and when they had arrived at Ghasfarost in pursuit of the thief, had they found Yuri already there, but Flynn knew now why. Even after they had returned and got it working again with Estellise's power, they had still been forced to wait. And after the verdict in favor of the Union's aid, they had had to wait a few days more before leaving Dahngrest and taking a week long trip to Nordopolica where they were only going to have to wait another two weeks before they even got to talk to the Duce and request help. Who knew how long it would take after that?

"Since we have to wait for quite a while, is it all right if I try to get some information on Phaeroh?"

"If that's what you want to do. Not a whole lot else going on for now. Maybe we can find something out and figure out why the Empire's after him and what he wants with you."

"Thank you, Yuri."

"Don't mention it."

"Well, this Ol' Man's heading to the inn for a nap. I need ta send the Don a report anyway." Raven clapped his hands roughly on the backs of Yuri and Karol's necks and turned with a spin. "You kids don't stay out too late."

"Whatever, Old Man." Yuri hid a bit of a smile and watched Raven amble off before turning back to them. "Why don't we split up for now? I've got some things to take care of and I'm sure you all do, too."

"Sounds fine by me."

"Yes, that's acceptable."

"Okay. We'll meet back at the inn here in the Coliseum around midnight."

Flynn didn't have anything to do on his own, not that he could think of. As the others all parted ways, off to take care of tasks or have a little fun, he found himself walking through the shops outside of the Coliseum. The cool, night breeze coming of the sea was relaxing for once, cutting through the crowds and whipping down the streets. The feel of solid ground beneath him was a relief once more as he dropped his brisk walk into more of a stroll, overlooking the wares.

It wasn't long before he happened upon Yuri, standing at the weapon shop, sword in hand, chatting with the older man whose work worn and calloused hands betrayed his occupation as a blacksmith. Repede's ears perked and he let out a long, low 'arooo' sound when he saw Flynn. Yuri turned his eyes over.

"What are you doing here?"

"Taking a walk."

"Ah." Yuri looked back to the blacksmith as Flynn approached to view the fine swords hanging along the wooden walls of the smith's stall. Yuri handed his blade to the smith, who looked it over with a careful and discerning eye.

"Is your sword broken?"

"No. It just needs some repairs and a little sharpening and it'll be fine."

"Yer better off replacing this antique. It's in rough shape. I got some real nice ones. I'll even give ya a credit for this old piece of junk."

"No way. If you won't fix it, I'll take it somewhere else."

Flynn had never had a chance to take a good long look at the sword that Yuri carried. It was indeed old for a blade, more than ten years, and marred with nicks and scratches. The hilt and pommel were plain, dark metal, scoffed and worn with age, and the handle had been wrapped in dark leather that was deeply imprinted from fingers. Aside from the wrapping, Flynn had seen a sword like this before. These were often used to arm the Imperial Army foot soldiers years ago, but had long since fallen out of style and been replaced with weapons of better quality.

"He's right. That sword is outdated. I'm surprised that it's lasted this long."

"No one asked you. I happen to like this sword and I'm not getting a new one."

There was no reasoning with someone like Yuri over something like this. The blacksmith took it and agreed to do what he could to repair the blade for the right price. After the price was agreed upon, Yuri and Repede headed back up the stairs toward the Coliseum. Flynn followed. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like keeping close on Yuri's tail.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?"

Flynn's stomach answered before he could.

"Figures." Yuri sighed. "We're headed up to the bar. Join us if you want to." He acted like he didn't really want Flynn following him. He walked in a slow and steady pace, eyes scanning the night sky that still lit up with the bright flashes of fireworks every few moments. In spite of the bursts, the stars could still be seen.

Flynn followed mutely for lack of anything better to do. Everyone else had a task at hand, but he had nothing. He was directionless and aching for a release of his pent up frustrations. He was sick still, no longer from the ocean, but from his own uselessness and his own helplessness. He was stiff and stifled, feeling hot and trapped like he was stuffed in a cage that was too small. That trapped feeling made him want to pace, but the uselessness told him that it wouldn't do any good.

Repede stopped mid stride, and Yuri almost tripped over him in an attempt to skid to a stop. The dog didn't growl like he was worried or on guard, but his ears remained perked.

"Repede?"

The warrior dog turned his head back and barked a few times, high pitched and excited, before grabbing Yuri by the hem of his vest, and pulling him forward.

Yuri fumbled forward for a step before catching himself, his charcoal eyes scanning to try and find what had the dog so suddenly frantic. He stopped cold, he must have seen it. Without a word to Flynn, he took a running start, weaving through the crowd. It took Flynn a moment to realize what had happened and react appropriately to follow.

It was a quick dash for Yuri before Repede jumped on a man walking. Yuri grabbed the man, ducking around him to get a good look at his face. His eyes lit up and for the first time that Flynn could remember, the guildsman smiled. His feet fumbled and Flynn thought he saw his knees buckle.

When Flynn got close enough, he heard a voice he recognized. "Hey, Yuri! Repede! Long time no see!"

It couldn't be. What about the events at Heliord? It was impossible. Yuri seemed to think that as well. Before Flynn could move in to confirm these things, Yuri was hurrying the grey haired man along to the Coliseum, Repede bounding happily around the two of them. He followed before the three of them disappeared into the crowd. Yuri led them man up to the bar in the Coliseum and hurriedly ordered a round of drinks for them while he crammed the man toward a table in the back.

"Yuri, what's going on?" Flynn asked.

The dark haired man looked over at him a little annoyed, but seemed mostly relieved. Flynn was quick to return his glare with one that was equally frustrated.

"Flynn?" From behind Yuri, seated at the table, the grey haired man poked his head out. A broad grin stretched across his scarred face.

"Captain Niren." He tried not to stutter when that name passed his lips.

"Hey there, lad. Have a seat."

He didn't wait for him to ask twice, sitting stiffly in a chair across the table from the man he had once served under. Yuri sat down as well, pushing a tankard toward the former knight.

"What's got you smiling like that?"

Flynn had never seen Yuri look like this. He was honestly smiling, his normal smugness had receded and he looked genuinely happy, his charcoal eyes bright. Yuri ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face as he took a sip of his ale.

"I'm mostly just glad to find you alive." His voice strained but he caught himself before it got out of hand.

"Whaddya mean?"

Yuri opened his pack and pulled out the worn gauntlet that he had recovered in Heliord. Flynn was surprised to see him still carrying it. "I found this on a skeleton at Heliord. I thought that you...."

Niren took it, eyes moving slowly over it. “Jurgis....” He sighed, setting it down on the table after a moment. He took a long gulp of his ale and leaned his head into one of his hands. "I can assure you that I'm alive and well. What are you boys doing here in Nordopolica? And travelin' together no less."

"You know how Gramps likes to run me to the four corners of the world on errands. Specifically, we're here to see the Duce."

The former captain turned to Flynn as Yuri finished off his first drink. "Flynn, I heard you were promoted to the Royal Guard after Ceazontania."

"Yes, Sir."

"I'm sorry to hear about your old man. Finath and I served together for a long time. He was a good man."

Yuri dropped his tankard, waving to the bar maid for another. Flynn thought for a second that the guildsman had been staring at him, but when he turned his head in Yuri's direction, he turned back to Niren.

"Thank you. How is--” He stopped himself. He had not seen or heard from the rest of the brigade that had been stationed at the place the three of them had in common, but the subject was delicate still. Hisca hadn't been the same since the loss of her sister and her left arm. And now it seemed like Lieutenant Jurgis had followed that same path.

"What are you doing all the way out here? Alexei likes to keep his guard close. Never thought I'd see you traveling with a guildsman either."

"It's... complicated. I'm here to see the Duce as well."

"So Alexei really is up to something then."

Before Flynn could express his surprise over the statement, Yuri interjected. "Yeah. We don't know what he's up to yet, but it's not good. He's sealed off the palace and has filled it with aer. I'm pretty sure that Garista is up to no good again too. Seems like he and Alexei collaborated on some huge warship."

"What do you mean 'again'?" (dialogue tag)

"Do you remember that huge blastia the Royal Guard pulled out of the old castle in Ceazontania?"

"Yes." He wasn't sure where this was going. At the time of the blastia's discovery, the official report had stated that it was an ancient technology that had somehow remained undetected until that time. The idea of a piece of blastia like that still functioning, or malfunctioning as the case at the time was, had bothered him at the time. It seemed more than a little farfetched. Even some of the most state of the art blastia needed constant maintenance to keep it running safely and efficiently. Something running for years without such maintenance and without prior malfunctions was, at least previously, undiscovered.

"Come to find out, that was some of Garista's early research. It caused everything that happened there because it forced too much aer from the krene there."

He knew that Garista was a top blastia researcher and that his work had turned the tide of war heavily in the Empire's favor, but he had no idea how much. How had Yuri put together that he was behind the Heracles as well? The standard Imperial foot soldier was better armed and better trained that those of the Union thanks to his efforts. Even Flynn, who had served in the palace, had a bodhi blastia. But this machine, the warship Heracles, Flynn couldn't find it in himself to approve of it even if it could help end this war and bring the Empire out victorious. It was powerful enough, it seemed, to wipe cities off the map and leave the Union without a fighting chance at all. The amount of destruction a creation like that could cause was virtually unheard of.

"Well, lads, there's not much we can do about those two right now, so let's celebrate the fateful meeting of our paths instead." Niren called jovially for another round of ales, including one for Flynn, insisting even when he was turned down.

The ale was cool and sat heavily in his stomach, moving aside most everything that had been threatening to overwhelm him earlier. In spite of everything, it was nice to sit there with his former superior officer, listening to him and Yuri exchange stories of monsters they had faced and exotic destinations they had visited, tales of work and travel. They arm wrestled a bit and Niren tried to get Flynn into the act, but he couldn't get into the lull and the swing of the conversation and felt like he was just left sitting on the sidelines, a cautious observer to the friendship of these two men from very different places and backgrounds and experiences. They were different, Niren and Yuri. A former captain, widely respected and looked up to as a model knight, but Yuri was respected too, just in a different way. Karol worshiped him, Kaufman teased and flirted, but obviously put her faith in him. Raven had his back in every fight, even if he complained about being too old for all of this. The people of Dahngrest, Ms. Karan, all of the shop owners and guilds people knew him and had even come to his defense against the monstrous Phaeroh, mostly unarmed and against a beast of untold power. Niren was a knight both in training and spirit, even if retired, and Yuri was a young guildsman, the grandson of the Don, and yet the two of them talked as if they had known each other for many years, before the four since the founding of their friendship in Ceazontania. If they could get along, then why not Yuri and Flynn?

But Flynn knew Yuri's dark secret, of the blood staining his hands, Did Niren know too? Had Yuri confided in him, if he felt like he could trust no one else?

Repede turned abruptly to the door, leaving his half lapped up bowl of ale with a gruff woof. Yuri looked also. Rita was standing in the door of the bar, waving at him and looking impatient.

"Go ahead and order another round. And some food. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"All right, kid."

Yuri slid out of his seat and met Rita at the door and the two of them slipped into the open sea air filled Coliseum halls.

"It's pretty amusing that the two of you would meet up again, don't ya think?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were only stationed in Ceazontania for a couple of months and some of that time had you running around the capital. But he was there, too." Niren paused to take a drink, swallowing hard with a contented sigh before continuing. "I dunno. Maybe it's just me, but I think the two of you would be really good friends if it weren't for this pointless war."

"We're only working together right now by the wishes of Lady Estellise. I don't think that I could ever be friends with someone like him."

"Why not?"

"Because he... he is the kind of person who takes the law into his own hands in such a manner that it is unacceptable." He hesitated to acknowledge that he knew about Yuri's secret. "He is over confident, sarcastic, completely contrary, pigheaded, reckless...."

"Yuri's a good kid, no matter what he's done. He always helps those in need, Union or Empire. He can't stand to see people suffering. Maybe he doesn't like the things he's forced to do, but he does them anyways. Law or not, he knows the world will be better off. In the end, he's stuck doing a job no one else much wants."

It wasn't the first time Flynn had heard that, but coming from his man, it meant something a little more. While not unbiased, Niren was fair and a good judge of character. He could be objective if the situation called for it, and the situation with Yuri certainly did. He nodded, at a loss for words as he stared down into his foamy, amber ale.

"You knocking boots with him?" The question was completely candid and Niren asked it with such a straight face that at first Flynn didn't think he had heard it correctly.

"What? No!" His response came a little louder and faster than he intended, and his face felt uncomfortably warm after such a simple question.

The former captain chuckled. "Well, I had assumed."

"Why?"

"You act different toward him. I can't say I've ever seen you be so open with yourself or someone else."

"No. He's a member of the Union. After the way my father died, I could never--"

"Oh. So that's what they told you." Niren shifted his gaze over to Flynn as he finished off his fourth or fifth ale. The wooden tankard clapped again that the table and Niren turned his full attention to Flynn. "A lot of what you know about the Union, about the Empire, about the war, about your father's death, is propaganda. Little bits of truth threaded through lies and exaggerations to sway the people to continue supporting the Empire. I thought after traveling this far, you would have realized it. The Empire, as you've surely seen, isn't all good, and the Union isn't all bad. Each has their fair share of problems and dirty and less than perfect history."

"If my father didn't fall in a battle against the Union, then how did he die?"

"Have you been back out to Ceazontania?"

"No." It had been four years since he and the Niren Corps had helped the citizens abandon the town after the barrier blastia had failed. All that was left was a collective of hollow buildings and empty streets.

"It's not there anymore. I heard a rumor that there was some testing going on out there, and one of the Empire's brigades was caught up in a test fire for one of Garista's new weapons. Wiped out most of the unit." He didn't come out and say that Finath Scifo had been there or directly involved, but from the tone of his voice and the weight of his words, Flynn knew that Niren was assuming as much.

Dying by friendly fire wasn't unheard of, but there were no reported incidents of Union and Imperial fighting in the area of Ceazontania. It had long been abandoned and nothing there should have held the interest of either group. But if what Niren and Yuri surmised was true, that the blastia recovered in Ceazontania by the Royal Guard at Alexei's will had indeed been an experiment of Garista's at work, it wasn't too far to assume that he could be continuing his research there. There were no citizens to endanger, no one would be the wiser if illegal research was being conducted in an abandoned and isolated place. Garista could work out from under the watchful eye of those who might suspect what he was up to, and if he had once founded research there, why not more?

That weight settled heavily on Flynn, pressing against him. Every little thought was a burden, every doubt cut him once more like a thousand swords.


	29. Chapter 29

Author's Notes: Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been in a bit of a slump lately, and although _No Such Thing as Fate_ is fully written, the slump happened to include any editing. But I'm trying to shake it off. Thank you for your patience.

* * *

 

When he had first seen Niren, Yuri had thought for sure that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but Repede's nose couldn't be fooled. He had been relieved and surprised to say the least. His knees had threatened to give way when he had laid his eyes on him, and his heart had raced for the joy of it. Something different than the heat of battle tempered adrenaline had flooded him and it was a welcome change. It wasn't every day that he was this happy and this energetic and it took every shred of his will to keep from hugging the man he believed dead.

Rita led him impatiently outside, spinning around to corner him as soon as he made it out of the bar door. Her fists were planted firmly on her girlish hips, and she was tapping one foot like an angry mother. "You."

"What did I do this time?" He smiled crookedly. He was really much too excited to care if he had somehow offended her.

"Estelle is dead set on wandering out into the desert to find Phaeroh and she has no idea how dangerous and stupid that is. You or Flynn need to talk some sense into her. She's putting her life at risk like this. The idea of going after something that tried to attack her is reckless and idiotic!"

"Wow. It sounds like you're concerned about her well-being."

The mage flushed. "I-It's nothing like that! We just don't have time to go tromping through the desert."

"All right. I'll go talk to her. Any idea where she ran off to?"

"She was down by the docks."

"Okay."

Rita walked swiftly back to the inn and Yuri made his way down the steps and out of the marble Coliseum. He'd rather go back and enjoy a few more ales with Niren, but if it was pressing enough for Rita to seek him out, he would go. He rounded out of the market and toward the docks. It didn't take long before he spotted her by the Fiertia. He stepped up beside her, following the path of her gaze upward.

"So you want to go look for Phaeroh."

"Yes. Judith mentioned that he lives in the Sands of Kogorh, west of here, past the Mother Cados Mountains." She turned her head to look at him. "I know that we're on an important mission, but I need to know why Phaeroh said what he did."

"'Child of the Full Moon, you are an insidious poison of this world that must be purged....'"

"This is something that I'm compelled to do. So I was thinking of going while the rest of you wait to see Belius."

"By yourself?"

"There's no reason for me to endanger all of you for my own whims."

"You know Flynn would never agree to let you go alone."

"I know, but this is something that I feel like I have to do."

"If it's what you want to do, that's fine. But at least let me go with you."

"Yuri, I couldn't--"

"I've got two weeks to burn before I can see the Duce. And it sounds like fun." He looked over at her with a smirk. "But before we decide anything, let's talk to everyone and see what they want to do. Okay?"

"Okay."

For a few long moments, they stood there in silence, eyes cast to the heavens. Always his gaze drifted to Brave Vesperia, no matter what other shining stars and constellations this hemisphere of the world might show. The stars were not the same here as in Dahngrest, with Brave Vesperia being the one exception.

"Do you know the story of Brave Vesperia?" The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but he caught Estelle watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"Why?"

"I notice that you look up at it a lot."

"A guy can't stargaze?"

"That's not what I mean. You always just seem so solitary and thoughtful. I just never thought of you as the kind to stop moving long enough to stargaze."

"What's the story of Brave Vesperia?" He had heard it, but it had been many years, long before his migration to Dahngrest. He had only been a child and now he couldn't even remember who had told him the story.

"Once upon a time, a great cataclysm threatened our world, and all who stood against it were felled by its dark might. When all hope for humanity seemed lost and Terca Lumireis was nearly plunged into ruin, a pair of siblings, a girl and a boy, appeared. With their strength, they drove off the calamity and together saved our world. The sister they called Child of the Full Moon and her brother they called Brave Vesperia. When it was all said and done, the Child of the Full Moon stayed on Terca Lumireis to help the people, but her brother Brave Vesperia ascended to the skies to watch over the world. The end."

"You're a pretty good storyteller."

"Do you think so?"

"Yeah." He turned back toward the town, eager once more to get back and see his friend. "Well, I'm heading back. I'll be out late tonight, so don't wait up for me. And don't stay out too late, okay? Rita's worried about you."

"Okay, Yuri. Thank you." She paused. “Oh wait. I have something for you.”

“For me?”

She dug around in her skirt pockets for a moment, and then pulled out a trinket. It was a brooch in the shape of a pink, six petal flower made of shell. It was trimmed in gold and had three strands of pearls dangling from it. She presented it to him. “I want you to have this as thanks for everything you've done for us.”

He picked it up tenderly. It was an item of no small value. This belonged to a noblewoman, so it was no surprise that she had something like this. “What's this?”

“It was my mother's. She gave it to me when I was little. And now I want you to have it.”

“I can't take something like this.” He dropped it back into her hand and turned away. If it was something that she still carried, then it must have been important to her and he had no intention of letting her just give it to him for the trivial things that he had done in the name of compromise.

“But, Yuri--”

“No way. Now get to bed. If we're going to head out into the desert, we'll need our rest.”

“Thank you.”

He waved her off and headed back up toward the Coliseum. He knew that if he told Flynn about Estelle and her desire to head into the desert to find Phaeroh, he would have a fit and try to keep her from making her own choices. Yuri didn't want that. He enjoyed watching the little princess trying to find her path. Someone who he had initially viewed as helpless was quickly growing stronger and more confident. There was something wonderful about witnessing such a thing. If he could only get Flynn to let her spread her wings a little more, he might be impressed, too.

It was a nice, brisk walk and he had to keep himself from taking the steps more than two at a time. The warmth and din of the bar smothered him as he entered, but he didn't mind. He moved back to the table where Niren still sat with Flynn, who seemed to be a little red in the face. The bar maids had come by with a small feast of food and his stomach began to serenade him, ready to be filled.

As soon as he sat, Flynn stood, excusing himself, saying that he was heading to the inn, and hurried out of the bar.

"What's with him?"

"Probably just feeling a little ill." Niren shrugged and slid him another full tankard.

Yuri slumped in his seat, pouring the better half of his drink down his throat before issuing a sigh that was both relieved and exasperated. He was free of Flynn's ever vigilant gaze and he could speak more openly. He propped his head up with his arm and groaned.

Niren chuckled.

"What? He's so stodgy. If anyone in this world knows how to be a stubborn ass, it's Flynn."

"Kinda like someone else I know."

"Oh no. We're nothing alike."

"He hasn't lived the same life you have. He doesn't bear the same burdens that you do, but he bears burdens of his own. Give him a break. It takes time to adjust once you start to see the world for what it really is."

"I'll just be glad when I can get away from him. So what brings you to Nordopolica?"

"Here to see the fights mostly, and maybe head up north to Yurzorea. Rumor has it there's a real high class resort up there. Figure I'd take it easy for a while.” He paused, as if considering something. “I've been meaning to ask. What's got you helping out an Imperial?"

Yuri shrugged. "It's a really long story, but basically I got arrested in Zaphias the night before Alexei set in motion whatever plan he's got rolling around in his head. When Estelle escaped with Flynn's help, they brought me along as, what I assumed would be, a bargaining chip for the Union's aid in retaking the capital. Since then, I've just sort of gone with the flow. I guess I'm helping them because I know that whatever Alexei's planning, it won't stop with the Empire. Dahngrest will easily be next on his list, and I doubt it would stop there either. Probably doesn't help that I'm technically Flynn's prisoner."

"What got you arrested in Zaphias?"

"I was going after a blastia thief, so they arrested me for assaulting a noble and then they found out I was a member of the Union. You better believe they had a field day interrogating me, thinking that I was some sort of spy." When he talked about that, it felt like some distant memory now. They had been on the road for weeks between Zaphias and Nordopolica, but he stopped himself quite forcefully before he let his mind wander down the roads that would rip the thin veil of feeling like a decent human being away from him. He had time for all of that later. "You know how I feel about the Empire itself, but there's no reason that I should let its people suffer at the hands of their corrupt leaders."

"I understand, kid."

"But all that aside, I'm itching for a good fight." He hadn't had a challenge in a long while now.

The former captain let out a much heartier laugh this time. "So, you joining the tournament tomorrow?"

"I hadn't really planned on it. I guess it depends on where we're going next, because I can't get in to see Belius until the night of the new moon." That was still an annoying obstacle hindering his progress. Once they finished here and Estelle got the help that she and Flynn needed to retake Zaphias, he could go home.

"I heard a really strong fighter entered today, and he's already rising through the brackets to face the current champ, Kratos. He's supposed to be pretty good with a pair of daggers, and ruthless to boot."

Yuri had a feeling he knew whom Niren was talking about, but what would that person be doing here? Either way, he was going to find out. "Sounds interesting. I may have to have a go at this newcomer."

"I'm sure he'd be no match for you." Niren stood and patted him on the back. "Well, kid, it's been good seeing ya, but I'm beat. I'll be rooting for you tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Repede's tail was wagging, thudding against the floor as he sat up and received a stouthearted ruffle on his head, and Yuri did, too. "I'm proud of you boys."

"Take it easy out there, old man." He tried not to let the strain of his voice show through but with everything good that he was feeling, it was really hard to keep a straight face and a calm demeanor. His heart was ready to burst even with their parting over the simple fact that Niren was alive and safe. Repede was in a similar mood, but with his bodily reflexes, less able to hide it. He hopped up on his hind legs and put his huge paws on Niren's shoulder to lick his face.

"Don't worry. This old man plans to take it easy for the rest of his days." He ruffled their heads affectionately again, dropped the money on the table to more than cover their dinner and drinks, and strode out.

Yuri finished off his drink and another plate of food before seeing himself out with Repede in tow. Bellies full and and hearts warmed, they wandered out into the Coliseum proper. He wasn't quite ready for bed yet, not with the rush that his body was experiencing, so they walked the rounded halls once more to the large set of doors that led to the room where they met Natz.

He could overhear a conversation as he entered and headed to the registration tables at the bottom of the stairs. One of the voices belonged to Natz, Belius's guard who had turned them away earlier. The other voice was so deep that it was nearly unmistakable. He took a few steps up and spotted the man with the long white hair that they had met at Ehmead Hill. According to Flynn, this man was Duke Pantarei, a hero of the Great War, but what was he doing here?

"I'm sorry, but the Duce will see no one except on the night of the new moon."

"I see. I will return then." Duke turned and moved down the steps in a slow, fluid motion. Yuri could see beneath his fair and slender exterior the muscle and grace of a fighter. He stopped when he noticed Yuri looking up at him, but continued his descent after a few seconds.

"Must be fate to keep meeting like this."

"There is no such thing as fate."

Yuri shrugged. "Maybe not, but it still makes me wonder why you're here."

Duke was silent for a moment, watching Yuri closely with his cold red eyes. "I have merely come to see the ancient master of this city."

"You mean Belius? Are you here for the Empire or something?"

Those eyes narrowed. "Nothing as horrendous as that. The matter is none of your concern."

"Don't tell me you're out to save the world or something." The tone he took was a little more mocking than he had intended, but he didn't apologize.

He received silence as his answer as the man walked away and disappeared into the halls of the Coliseum. Repede whined at him a little.

"What's with that guy?" He shook his head and dispelled that bunch of thoughts before walking up to the main registration desk. He was greeted by a cheerful young woman in a cream and pink dress, seated there with two other girls who could have easily been her sisters. "I want to register for tomorrow's tournament if it's not too late."

"You're in luck. We have just one spot open." She smiled. It seemed over exaggerated and fake like she was forced to wear it every day. "Everyone wants to take a run against the new challenger. He's really tough. You wouldn't believe how many guys they dragged out of there on stretchers today after fighting him."

"Yeah, I've heard that he's pretty good, but that just makes it more exciting."

"I agree!" She opened a black book that was set in front of her and turned it to him. From the ink well on the table, she pulled a ragged old quill pen tipped with black ink. "Just sign here and you'll be entered for tomorrow's bout. If you manage to beat the new challenger, you'll get to face the champ Kratos."

"Sounds great." He scribbled his name on the line and dropped the pen back in the bottle of ink.

"All right, Mr. Lowell, your first match is at noon, so be here and ready at least an hour beforehand. And good luck!"

"Thanks." If the new challenger was who he suspected, he might just need that luck. In the meantime, he had some preparing to do. Hopefully the blacksmith would be finished with his sword early in the morning so that Yuri could be ready long before his first bout.

He and Repede headed back to the inn and sneaked quietly into the room with the others who were all sound asleep to get a little shut eye before the excitement the next day would bring.


	30. Chapter 30

Author's Notes: Sorry for the lack of updates lately! Things have been a little crazy and I'm trying to get everything back on track. Thanks to all of you who've stuck with me.

Also, I don't know if anyone noticed the title drop last chapter. And apparently this chapter, too.

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He heard Yuri and Repede enter in the wee hours of the morning, but he didn't stir at all. He hadn't slept at all and this time it wasn't because of the relapses of his body over his near death experience in the strait between Nor and Torim Harbors. No. This was a different sort of body memory that was haunting him. The heat of battle rushed him, smothering him and pulling the air from his lungs. His mind was focused firmly on the first place he had ever been stationed after becoming an Imperial Knight.

The city of Ceazontania had not been a lively one like Zaphias or Dahngrest or Nordopolica when he had arrived, although he had been told that it had once been so. It had been a quiet, sleepy little town where the knights stationed there, the Niren Corps, had been well respected by the citizens and everyone had worked in harmony to keep the city safe. Although usually a quiet place, there had been a recent rash of very violent monster attacks when Flynn had arrived that had only barely been contained by the small group of knights. He and another young man had been sent as back up. They had hardly been enough.

The monster attacks had grown worse, the creatures' population and violence rising at a ferocious pace, even when the brigade had taken extensive measures to try and contain them and keep them away from the city. The barrier blastia there had already started acting up and the Imperial Mage stationed there had seemed to be doing the best he could to keep it up and running to keep everyone safe. Garista Luodor was a brilliant mage and strategist, and if what Niren and Yuri both said were true, he had been behind everything all along.

He had always believed what he had been told about his father's death without a second thought on it. Even after Alexei had set his plan in motion, the fact that what he knew about his father's death could be a lie had never occurred to him. He knew that Niren wouldn't lie to him, especially about something so serious. And now he felt like didn't know anything. Nothing was a fact and everything was in question.

If his father had indeed died in a blastia testing experiment, there would be someone who knew. How had Niren's source known? Had the source been there and witnessed such an event or was the source merely a link in a chain of hearsay? Niren had said that he had gone to Ceazontania recently and it was gone. What did 'gone' mean? Empty? Crumbling? Wiped off the face of Terca Lumireis?

A tinge of guilt crept cold into his limbs and chest. He had taken everything the Empire told him at face value and he had gone so far as to set it in his mind, even if only for a single second, that not just any member of the Union, but Yuri, had been the one who had cut his father down. But what he knew about Yuri told him that it was simply not true. Certainly, blood stained his hands, but it was the blood of people who Yuri had witnessed doing harm to the innocent, and by all accounts throughout the Empire, Finath Scifo was viewed as a man of perfect morals and righteousness. There had never been a single word of misgiving regarding him. Yuri and Niren had been friends and it was possible that the former captain had even told Yuri of his father. On top of that, what were the astronomical chances that out of all the people in the world, one single guild member, the same one he was now traveling with, had single-handedly caused the death of his father? What Flynn had seen on the Atherum had not beenYuri killing his father, but Yuri cutting down a mirror wraith that had merely showed Flynn an illusion. But the heat and anger that rose in him in that moment had caused Flynn to assume far too much.

The revelation didn't ease his worried mind, but his simmering anger with the guildsman was dissipating, leaving a bad taste in Flynn's mouth. He didn't want to believe that the country that he worked so hard for had been at fault for his father's death. He didn't want to think that a man who was as highly respected and admired as Sir Garista was in truth a cold and heartless murderer. What had he been testing that could have possibly destroyed Ceazontania and why had Flynn's father been there? If they had been testing something, anything, why hadn't they pulled their own troops back first instead of letting them get caught in the crossfire? What kind of force would cause a man of Garista's stature to do such a thing?

The questions mulled in his brain, swirling harder and colder than the puddle of ale sloshing around in his stomach. Even as he tossed and turned, he couldn't get comfortable and he knew that sleep would be elusive.

 

* * *

 

Yuri rose well before the others and, for the first time in a long time, he felt like the sleep had done him some good. The others were still deep in slumber. The salt air drifting in from the sea did that. He and Repede left quietly so as not to disturb the others. He wanted to be ready for his matches today and he still needed to pick up his sword.

His energy was brimming and he enjoyed the feeling it gave him: happy and near invincible. It was invigorating. He and Repede raced down the steps of the Coliseum and into the market. The sun was just coming up, its warm yellow-orange light spreading across the cluster of market stalls and driving back the shadows of the night. Even though it was almost summer, it was still cool because of the sea breeze. He welcomed that over the muggy heat that plagued Dahngrest this time of year, even though the aer around the city kept that sky looking like an eternal twilight.

He caught a food vendor just as he opened for a pair of crepes for breakfast, one for himself and the other for Repede, and they took a more leisurely pace on the way to the blacksmith's stall. The smith had just opened as well and was in the midst of sharpening Yuri's blade when he arrived.

"I'm telling ya, kid. This piece of junk won't last much longer. Ya need something new."

"No thanks. I like this one." He wasn't going to be talked out of carrying the same sword he'd had for eleven years. This sword had seen him through thick and thin, and while it was old, it was still a perfectly good weapon.

The blacksmith sighed and received his payment and Yuri and Repede went on their way. It was still early, but he went up to the Coliseum to check in. They showed him to a waiting room where the other fighters for the day were already waiting. The air here was heavy with tension, a cloud of anxiety, fear, excitement and confidence hanging over the room. He and Repede found a small stone bench in the corner where they could watch their opponents mill about in their preparatory rituals. There were mercenaries showing off their corded muscles and broad forms in a masculine display designed to scare the less intimidating looking of the bunch. Yuri could see, though, the leaner members of the crowd had speed and flexibility on their side and the majority of their lot seemed confident in their skills. But Yuri escaped their gazes and observed from the sidelines.

He had no idea who he would face in the brackets, but he watched each contender closely for weaknesses and strengths, way he could beat each one of them if necessary. He didn't underestimate any of them. That would be foolish. But not many people could say that they had trained with the strongest warrior in Dahngrest.

After a long while of quiet observation without seeing the person that he had expected, he drew his sword. The grip on the handle was worn over the years, and if anything needed to be replaced, that it was it. He cut it away carefully and revealed the metal below. He pulled a length of leather cording out of his pocket and set to work wrapping the handle. After a moment, he stopped, his fingers hitting a place where the metal had been carved into. For a few long moments, he started at the five, simple block letters there. They had always been there, since the day he got the sword and he had all but forgotten about them.

Yuri breathed out a quiet sigh and looked over at Repede. "No such thing as 'fate', huh?"

* * *

 

When he woke, Yuri and Repede were long gone. Sleeplessness had haunted him all night, only receding slightly before dawn. The few hours he had gotten were not enough and the ache in his body warned him of fatigue that would surely come if his mind continued to keep him up all night. He rose reluctantly from his warm, yet uncomfortable, bed when the others did.

"Hey, where's Yuri?" Estellise asked.

"He may have gone for a morning jog. He does that sometimes."

Flynn didn't question Yuri's empty and unmade bed. He still needed some time to work out the muddle in his brain that the guildsman always seemed so wrapped up in.

"Should we wait for him before we get breakfast?"

"Forget about him. Let's go get some grub. This old man's too hungry to wait."

Karol puffed his cheeks up at Raven angrily. "That's mean, Raven! Yuri cooks for you all the time and you can't even be bothered to wait for him."

Raven sighed a little, slumping further as his eyes rolled back into his head. "If the kid's out and about, he's already eaten."

"Maybe Ms. Kaufman has seen him." Estellise turned to Karol. "Can we go ask her?"

"That sounds like a great idea!"

"Wait. What about breakfast?"

"Looks like it'll have to wait until we find Yuri," Judith said with a smile.

"Judith, dear, you wouldn't let this ol' man starve, would ya?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine if we wait a little while."

Raven groaned and complained a little more as they set out of the inn, but quieted after a while.

It was bright and cool in spite of it being nearly summer. They walked through the market, eyes wide open, looking for any trace of Yuri or Repede. The walk to the Fiertia proved fruitless. They spotted Kaufman on the dock, talking to a slender, cowardly-looking man. The man was wearing the standard tan clothing seen in field researchers, but didn't wear any markings that showed him with the Empire. Instead, the patch on the front of his shirt was of two shovels crossed over a portal. He fumbled and trembled and stuttered as he spoke.

"O-Oh my... what ever will I do...?"

Kaufman glanced over and spotted them approaching and waved them closer. "What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for Yuri and Repede. Have you seen them?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "They were in the market first thing this morning, but I haven't seen them since. But when you see him, let Yuri know that I'm leaving the Fiertia in his care. I'm heading back to Dahngrest early." She turned back to the frightened man. "Why don't you ask them? Raven's with them, and as a member of the Union, he has to at least listen to what you have to say."

"Say what?" The scruffy older man didn't seem to keen on the idea.

"Oh my oh my. Yes. I-I'm in need of h-help. Could we go somewhere more private to talk about it."

"Yeah, whatever."

The trembling man bowed to Kaufman, catching his glasses as they began to slip off his face, and led them to a large stone building in the market, with a flag that bore the same emblem of the shovels that he wore. He unlocked a heavy wooden door and let them into an office that was a mess of books, maps, and papers. He shut and locked the door behind them.

"Who's this guy?" Rita asked Karol.

"That's Regaey. He's the leader of Ruin's Gate, one of the five Master Guilds that make up the Union."

Raven was more interested in getting right to the point. "So what's got you in such a tizzy?"

"It's awful! The Coliseum's newest challenger is the problem! He's quickly defeating everyone in the bouts, and I overheard him say that he's here to overthrow the head of Palestralle, Belius!"

"What?"

"I promise you. I heard it directly from his mouth. I tried to talk to Palestralle about it, but they wouldn't listen. He needs to be stopped and there's no one else I can turn to but the Union."

"Whaddya think we should do about it?"

"If someone strong enough were to enter the tournament and defeat him, they could easily expose him and then Palestralle could handle things from there, but right now they won't even hear me out."

Raven turned to the others, huddling near them and dropping his voice into a whisper. "This is pretty serious stuff. What do ya kids think?"

"Can he be trusted?" Judith was the first to ask the question on Flynn's mind.

"He's not the head of one of the five Master Guilds fer nuthin'."

"We can't let someone overthrow Palestralle,” Estellise added.

"The Don would be pretty pissed if anythin' happened to his friend Belius."

"At the very least, this warrants an investigation. We should go up to the Coliseum and take a look,” Flynn replied.

"What about Yuri?" Karol asked.

"We don't have time to wait if what Regaey says is true. He'll have to catch up with us."

"It's settled then." Raven turned back to Regaey. "Thanks for the info. The Union'll investigate from here."

Regaey bowed several times in quick succession, wringing his hands. "O-Oh thank you. Thank you."

He showed them back and they took to the streets toward the Coliseum once more.

* * *

 

The girl at the desk smiled up at them. "Oh my, you're in luck. It looks like a few of our challengers dropped out early. So, who will be fighting today?"

Flynn stepped forward. He needed to let off some steam. This would help clear his head and pitting himself against others of a certain skill level would help him gauge how well his training had been going on top of helping the Union. "I will be."

Judith side-eyed him and pouted as he stepped up to sign the registration.

"Are you sure, Flynn?" Estellise wasn't the only apprehensive one.

"Yes."

"Please take a seat in the waiting room to the right. We'll call you when it's time for your first match."

"Good luck!"

"We'll be cheering for you!"

"Watch out. If this guy's rising through the ranks, he could be tricky and dangerous."

Flynn parted from the others and went to the waiting room as directed. There were many other fighters there, the grim and grizzly, experienced and cocky. He took a seat on a bench near the wall and closed his eyes. Something of this intensity required calming his mind and tempering every bit of fighting experience he had. If the new challenger was as tough as Regaey said, he would need it.


	31. Chapter 31

Author's Notes: I have no idea how I missed updating this on AO3. If you only read _No Such Thing as Fate_ on this site, I'm so sorry.

 

The first few matches were so easy that he didn't even break a sweat. As he approached the semi-finals, there was still no sign of the one he suspected to be the problematic new challenger. Each match was tougher than the last, but they still proved to be more of a warm up than a workout. Each time he returned to the waiting room, Repede was waiting for him, tail wagging, with words of encouragement and little bits of praise. He was becoming a big enough hit in the Coliseum now and the other fighters in the waiting room regarded him cautiously.

Yuri was called for the semi-final match and his body was itching for what he hoped would be a better fight than the last few had been. Anyone else who had made it this far had to at least be near his own strength

Repede 'aroo'ed at him as he headed for the door to the Coliseum floor.

"Of course I'll win."

The warrior dog barked and let him leave. He exited to the stone floor of the Coliseum beneath the gaze of thousands in the stands above. They cheered as the announcer called over the crowd.

"Now the semi-final match! On this side, newcomer and Coliseum favorite with the steely gaze that rends his enemies asunder... Yuri Lowell!"

Yuri waved to be a good sport about the whole affair, but he wasn't there for the crowd's amusement.

"And on this side, a late entry whose knightly blade and stunning good looks are taking the Coliseum crowd by storm... Flynn Scifo!"

Yuri nearly dropped his sword for surprise upon hearing the name. That couldn't be right. There was no way... is what he thought until Flynn strode out the opposite door, sword drawn, shield ready and looking just as surprised to see Yuri. Yuri's brain briefly panicked, sending his thoughts racing. Suddenly everything was going wrong. He forced himself forward to the center of the stage, swearing with each step. Only one thing provided him any comfort. He had beaten Flynn before and he could do it again. He didn't doubt that, but why was he here?

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm here on behalf of Regaey of Ruin's Gate. He said that one of the new challengers is plotting to overthrow Palestralle."

Yuri raised his blade, smirking broadly. "Well, let's give them a good show, then."

Flynn raised his own, touching their two blades together. A split second later, the announcer hailed the start of the match and Flynn put as much distance between them as he could. He wasn't going to hunker down like the last time they had dueled, but appeared to try and stay mobile instead. It would be interesting to see where this change in strategy went.

Yuri took the offensive, moving to close the gap between them as quickly as Flynn opened it. Even after half a dozen fights, his energy was overflowing. He sidestepped a shield strike attempt and was ready to lock Flynn into a parry as soon as the blond changed his footing in the slightest. Flynn pulled back enough to keep from getting stuck, but Yuri countered with his Shining Fang arte. Flynn pressed his heels into the stone to minimize his skidding, and was prepared to attack much faster than before. Yuri hated to admit it, but the knight was getting better.

He came in for another blow, to force the blond backward further, but Flynn blocked and, with his shield held toward his chest, charged forward hard. Yuri ducked and spun around the back of Flynn, slamming into him with his own back.

"You're not going to take it easy on me, huh?"

"These folks didn't pay good money to see a rigged show. We should at least give them their money's worth."

Flynn turned quickly, hoping to catch Yuri off guard, but he leapt out of the way. Flynn took the offensive this time, using strike after strike to try and corner Yuri. Yuri took it in stride, weaving and dodging. He wouldn't say it out loud, but Flynn was getting better. He had already improved vastly since their duel on the way to Dahngrest.

Sparks flew as their swords struck, and Yuri was able to get a good look at the determination on Flynn's face. Behind those blue eyes, though, he could see someone who was uncertain and not only fighting someone who had bested him before, but fighting to find something more.

"FLYNN SCIFO!"

 

The voice that rang through the stadium stopped Flynn and Yuri in their tracks. They both looked up, swords still locked in the parry. From the announcer's box flew a flash of black and magenta, ricocheting off of the rounded stone wall and landing on the Coliseum floor. The force knocked both of them back a few yards, leaving Flynn fighting to scramble to his feet.

He could never forget the maniacal laughter that stunned and split his ears, and the slim and speedy form that it came from. Dagger spinning in his hand like a top, was Zagi. Something had changed significantly from the last time they had fought aboard Barbos's ship. A long, metal gauntlet ran the length of his left arm, scaled with spines, razor sharp plates and with a glowing green blastia in the shoulder. The energy from the core coursed down the gauntlet, tracing paths like bright green pulsing veins.

"You've got to be kidding me...." Yuri rolled up off the ground, letting his sword twirl before his caught it and let the blade come to rest on his left shoulder. "You've got a really shitty sense of timing, you know!"

Zagi scoffed at Yuri, turning his attention to Flynn. "Ah, Flynn Scifo! I'm glad you were able to stay alive this long just so that I could kill you!"

"If you think I've made it this far for that, you're wrong!" Flynn's style was much less flashy than Yuri's, but he made it very clear that he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"What's this?! Lo! Another challenger! It's the Coliseum's current finalist, Zagi! Has he come to steal the show from the two new heartthrobs?!"

Zagi swung his mechanical arm up and fired off a flash of green energy into the announcer's box before turning his attention back to Flynn. He ignored Yuri, and charged Flynn, swinging his blade in an upward arc that barely missed his throat. His movements were even faster than the last time they had fought, and Flynn wondered if the blastia in his gauntlet was to blame for that.

Flynn tried to remain calm and mobile in the face of this adversary he'd trained to fight, but hoped that he wouldn't have to again. He dodged or shielded himself against nearly every blow, waiting for a brief second of reprieve when he could unleash the might of his own fury in the form of an arte. Zagi's endurance was long lasting, each blade slicing at Flynn as the assassin spun and danced about. He had a feeling that Zagi was merely toying with him, but he still waited it out. He would have to get tired eventually.

Rather than wait for an opening, Yuri made one. He feinted a blow at Zagi's right, just enough to catch his attention from Flynn before spinning and striking out at his left. Zagi recoiled in time to keep Yuri from disabling his blastia and back flipped out of the way. Flynn was grateful for the brief moment of freedom and before Zagi's feet hit the ground, he was lunging after him. Yuri didn't wait for a chance of his own. He launched forward, too, timing his footing perfectly with Flynn's. His sword level with his eye, he rushed into a frenzy of attacks as soon as Zagi touched down.

Even as Flynn began his own series of attacks, he and Yuri chipping away at the assassin's defense, he could see it plain as day: the moment when Yuri stopped holding back his own ferocity and gave a fight his all. The playfulness drained from his eyes and only seriousness was left. He was still smirking; he never stopped smirking. Flynn realized that he had only seen a fraction of Yuri's true strength in their first duel. Zagi was a terrifying maniac who Yuri would give his all against and, while something about them was similar, they were deeply different.

"Oh, come on, Yuri! I'm just trying to do my job! You know how it is!"

"I think you enjoy your job a little too much!" He wasn't going to be baited so easily.

"You can't tell me you haven't gotten your fair share of fun out of yours!"

Yuri replied violently with his powerful Ghost Wolf attack, knocking Zagi into the wall behind him hard enough to leave a dent in the marble. There was a brief pause in the battle as the assassin wrenched himself from the stone, shaking off the pure power of the attack, but Yuri wasn't done.

Zagi started laughing, the cackling convulsing through his agile form, and right as Yuri was going in for another succession of strikes, he ignited his blastia, sending a green flash and a shock wave of energy through them both, knocking them onto their backs and across the ground.

"Look at what you've done, Flynn Scifo!" He raised his arm high into the air and the density of the aer around them grew, feeling like stones tossing in his gut. "My beautiful new arm is all thanks to you!" The light in his gauntlet grew brighter and brighter, blinding after only a few seconds.

He fumbled to stand, to pull his shield up and recover his vision so he could strike. Zagi's hurried steps approached as the feeling of the aer became unbearably heavy. It felt like layers of water smothering him, pressing down on him, dragging him into darkness.

"Now die, Flynn Scifo!"

He tried to get up, to roll away, to shield himself, but his body instinctively stiffened for the final blow. Then, a loud crackling sang through the air, and the heaviness of the aer subsided. The light receded, save for the green arcs of light spraying from Zagi's gauntlet.

"Agh! What the hell is with this thing?!" He tore at it with his other hand, slammed his fist into its metal surface a few times, but it only caused the blastia to dim as it deactivated. "Piece of shit! I get one shot out of it and it stops working?!"

"Looks like you've bitten off more than you could chew, Zagi." Yuri rose, chest heaving with labored breaths.

"It doesn't matter! I can complete the mission without this hunk of junk!"

Flynn got up as fast as his weary body would allow, struggling to swim in water that wasn't there, in the memory of his near death by drowning that still haunted his body, scrambling to his feet to get back into the fight. Zagi slammed into him, knocking him back down and followed quickly behind him as he slid across the Coliseum floor. He hurt so much and the sharp scent in his nose warned of bleeding and a possible head injury. He felt so weak, his body still recovering from the weight of the aer and, as Zagi drew nearer, his lungs seized up, holding onto their final breath.

The assassin stood over him, dagger twirling in his hand as he lowered it to strike.

"Flynn!" He heard Estellise call out, but he couldn't see from where, and the sound was drowned out by the pressure and sound of water rushing his ears.

He heard a grunt of pain, but it wasn't his own mouth uttering it. The light of the sun was blocked out and he felt the invisible water pull back and the flash of memories faded. His eyes burned and stung, but focused quickly.

"Get the hell up!" Yuri was standing over him, his back to him, holding Zagi back with blade and body. From his shoulder, a patch of wetness was spreading across the back of his shirt and vest, and under the hem of his sleeve, long trails of dripping red traced paths down his right arm. Zagi's dagger had hit a mark, but it wasn't Flynn. Although the amount of blood leaving his body was growing and his pale face had become a whiter shade, Yuri held strong long enough for Flynn to force himself to his feet from Yuri's shadow.

Yuri forced Zagi back a few yards, and his arm fell mostly limp at his side, the lines of blood growing longer and wider as it flowed more freely, staining the marble as the droplets fell.

"Are you okay, Flynn?" Estellise was suddenly behind him, her small hand catching him at his shoulders, and the others of their group rushed in behind her.

"I-I'm fine, but Yuri--"

She flew instantly to his aid, casting as she dashed, and the others followed forward to attack. Judith was the first back into the fray against Zagi, svelte and swift, matching easily the assassin's pace as he tried to get away from her, only to be cornered by Karol and his huge sword.

Flynn staggered forward, back into the rhythm of the fight, catching up with the others in their pursuit of Zagi. Yuri joined after a moment's time, refreshed looking thanks to the efforts of Estellise, and Repede followed in his steps. They knocked Zagi to and fro across the Coliseum, volleying him between their ranks. He dodged and wove through them, getting his hits in where he could, but his movements belied that his training was for small fights, not a bout against half a dozen people and a warrior dog.

He ducked nimbly under Judith's spear and flipped over Flynn's sword. He slammed into Rita, sending her spinning on one heel as he dashed for the exit.

"H-Hey! He's got the red case!"

"Oh no! The clear ciel crystal!" Estellise was the first to turn her chase after him, but Repede and Yuri were on his heels fast as lightning. The chase was on.

They followed him into the waiting room and through the halls of the Coliseum. He glanced back to taunt them every so often, but that drove Yuri and Repede only harder.

"What does he want with that thing?" Raven asked, struggling to keep up.

"Who knows, but it can't be good!"

"Come on, Raven! Keep up!"

The Coliseum halls gave way to the stairs and streets below and they continued hard on his heels through the market. He tried to lose them amid the midday crowds, but his flash of magenta hair was hard to miss even in a city this big. People parted before them, slowing and stopping most of the action. They forced their way through, gaining steadily on Zagi, but that didn't last long. He skidded to a stop, grabbing the first person in arm's reach to put between them and him.

Regaey stiffened immediately as the blade was pressed against his neck, stretching as far as he could and leaning back to keep away from the deadly metal. "W-What is going on here?!"

"Shut up!"

"Let him go, Zagi. He's got nothing to do with this." Yuri warned with a motion of his sword, but did not draw.

"Well, he does now. Pick one, Yuri! The life of an innocent man," his dagger drew closer to Regaey's trembling throat, "Or this box."

"Let Regaey go." Estellise stepped forward. "The box simply isn't worth a human life."

"Guess what? You get neither!" He threw something the size of a pebble against the ground, and in a pop and a flash, slate colored smoke filled the air, blinding them and burning hot and acrid in their lungs.

Repede charged forward through it, snarling, his sensitive nose hunting for every trace of the assassin's scent in the air and against the ground. He turned to Yuri with a bark and a growl followed.

"You got his scent?"

The warrior dog barked again and padded quickly down the street, stopping toward the end to look back at them, head, ears, and tail erect with tension. The dog was in hunting mode. He barked a few more times as if issuing orders for them to hurry, like a drill sergeant in the knights training.

"Repede's got a lock on him. If we hurry we can catch up with him before he gets too far." Yuri was growling almost as much as the dog, and Flynn could see so easily the likenesses between the two. His charcoal eyes were stormy and ice cold. Flynn had seen this look before and didn't like what it meant. "He won't be able to travel too fast with a hostage."

"We have to save Mr. Regaey."

"And we need to get that chest back."

"Let's go then. Zagi won't wait for us."


	32. Chapter 32

The road from Nordopolica expedited their travel. It was well maintained to a point, but as they neared the mountains, the brick faded into a simple dirt road. From the looks of it, Zagi had made it at least as far as the Mother Cados Mountains, but only Repede would know how he had passed through them. There were two routes. The first was a long and winding trail that led up and between two peaks. It was dangerously steep and had been closed the last time Yuri had passed through here. The other was the Weasand of Cados, which was a path that ran through a well-traveled cave system. This was the preferred method of travel between here and the desert on the other side of the mountain, and with only one working arm and a hostage, it would likely be the one the assassin had chosen.

Repede confirmed this, trotting into the cave opening that sat like a tooth lined monster's maw, wide and awaiting prey, on the side of the mountain. His nose was near flat against the ground while he followed the invisible trail.

"Where are we?" Estelle asked.

"This is the Weasand of Cados. It's a route through the Mother Cados Mountains, and one of the only ways to access the desert and the rest of this continent without a boat. Looks like Zagi came through here."

"But why would he want to head to the Sands of Kogorh? It's suicidal.” Rita was right.

He didn't have an explanation for the things Zagi did, and he was pretty sure Zagi didn't either. "There's a town in an oasis just beyond the mountains and right before you get to the desert. It's likely he'll be passing through there."

The underground passage was cool, damp, and dark. After the initial wood fortified cave entrance, the path opened into a huge cavern system where they could readily see with the aid of the blastia powered lanterns dug into the curved rock walls by those who had first made this pass traversable. The nature made paths curved and rose at times, but the travel was far easier than the hike the mountains would have been. Aside from the shuffle of their feet, the only other sounds to be heard were the dripping of water and the occasional chatter of a large cluster of cave bats that were clinging to the cavern ceiling, still asleep. Hopefully, they would stay that way.

The well worn stone pathways led them from one large open area, through a corridor system, and into another cavern. The sloping way dipped down into a pool of water that seemed to be from an inner stream, then rose up again into a steep path to an archway in the far northwest corner.

Rita pushed past him and approached the pool, looking across the path to a sizable structure of stone slabs jutting out of the ground. The area was alight with a soft yellow-green light and white lily-like flowers grew there, springing up from the water.

Estelle stopped just shy of the water's edge to stand beside her. "What's the matter, Rita?"

"I didn't realize that there was an aer krene here, although with as old as this cave is, it isn't surprising."

"We don't really have time to stop. Why don't you research it on the way back?" Yuri had too much else on his mind to worry with sight seeing and research right now.

"O-of course! I was just making a note of it!"

Estelle stepped nearer to the pool, peering into the stream and the krene that sat in the middle of it. Everyone else started across the bridge. They would have to wade through the water, but it wasn't very deep and wouldn't be a big deal.

The green glow of the aer bubbling around the krene faded a little to yellow, but its transformation to red was much more sudden and violent. It was growing denser by the second, and Yuri barely had a chance to pull Estelle out of harm's way before she got caught up in the density.

"Why is the aer getting so dense all of a sudden?" Rita didn't fear getting closer, but she remained at enough of a distance that it didn't seem to be affecting her much.

"Can we get around it somehow?" Karol asked.

"This is the only path. Aer with this kind of density is extremely harmful to the human body." She backed away a little, and Yuri could see a tremble in her knees that must have been the result of the pressure of the aer on her. He knew that when even a small amount like this got too dense it was dangerous, and could have adverse effects on both humans and animals. Nothing was safe.

"It looks like we'll have to turn back." Judith glanced back the way they came.

"But what about the clear ciel crystal?"

As soon as Estelle asked that, a sudden tremor shook the cavern violently, knocking bits of rock and stalactites from the ceiling of the cavern, raining down sharp and heavy on them.

Karol bumped against the lower wall of the path, anchoring there to steady himself. "What's happening?!"

"An earthquake?" Raven asked.

Judith looked up across the ceiling and pointed. "No! Look!"

He turned and his eyes met with a sight that he had never expected. There in the middle of the pool of red aer and water was a beast, a creature unlike any he had ever seen. Its brown and white body was covered in large plate scales and patches of feathers, and the curled wings that sprouted from its long back were easily twice his own height, lined with more feathers, although these were sharp in cut.

Estelle gasped beside him, her hands flying to cover her mouth, and her green eyes wide in shock.

The dragon opened its sharp, golden beak, but instead of the bloodcurdling shriek Yuri prepared himself for, its chest expanded as it inhaled. Its mighty breath pulled in the red bubbles of aer from the pool.

"What--"

"--is it doing?!" Estelle finished Flynn's exclamation.

"It's ingesting the aer?!" Rita only stopped when Yuri yanked her back by her arm. Now was not the time for investigation.

After a long, tense moment, the creature pulled its head back and let out a screech. The wind that accompanied it sent them tumbling backward. Yuri hunkered down, drawing his sword. He didn't know what this thing was, what it was doing, or what it was going to do, but he was going to be ready for it if a fight was an answer to either of the latter two questions.

A few flaps of its huge wings and it lifted itself out of the water and flew off into the darkness of the top of the cavern.

"What just happened?" Karol was stunned, barely managing those words in his surprise.

"It somehow stabilized the aer krene." Rita moved forward, examining the area as she fiddled with a bit of her short brown hair. Yuri had noticed long ago that she always took the same lock between her fingers while she was thinking. “Could this be a function of the Rizomata Formula?”

Raven watched the ceiling of the cavern suspiciously. "What was that thing?"

"That... that was the dragon that grabbed us outside of Caer Bocram...." Estelle said.

"Is that so?" Judith seemed intrigued. Of course talk of a dragon would be interesting to someone who called one their partner. "It should be safe to pass now, right, Rita?"

"Yeah."

"Good. We need to catch up with Zagi." Yuri treaded through the water first, and the others followed when he suffered no ill effects. Flynn and Estelle's eyes remained fixed on the darkness the dragon had disappeared into. "Come on, you two. We don't have time to waste."

"I'm sorry."

Flynn watched a second longer, but pulled his eyes away finally. "Yes. It's just something about that creature seemed... familiar."

He didn't disagree with that thought. It did seem strangely familiar, but he and Flynn had no real reason to feel that way. When Estelle, Karol, and Rita had first encountered the dragon, Flynn and Yuri had been imprisoned in Heliord. The feeling was from some time before that, settling in the back of his mind, but he shook it off. There were bigger problems right now.

They continued through the cave system. He forced them to a pause as they started to round a boulder on one side of the path. He could hear voices up ahead, both of which he recognized. The first was Zagi's, and the second was Regaey's. He couldn't make out every word over the ambient noise of the cavern, but from what he could hear, it didn't sound like a hostage situation. In fact, they seemed to be talking business.

Yuri stepped into the path, motioning to the others to remain quiet as they peeked around.

"This stupid blastia you gave me malfunctioned!"

"I-If you would just use it correctly, it wouldn't have this problem."

"Oh, drop the act. Why'd you want this stupid thing anyway?" Zagi held up the case with his good arm.

"You'll see, dear boy."

Rita didn't waste any time dashing forward, blowing their cover and throwing fire spells. "Give us back that case, you psycho!"

"Oh my! It appears as though the Katzens have finally arrived." Regaey whipped off his glasses in a flash, shedding the guise that he wore for another that Yuri easily recognized. He was sharply dressed in a tailored coat of steel blue and his slate colored hair was slicked back in spikes against his scalp aside from a single lock that fell against his cheek. He adjusted one of the white frilled cuffs on his coat and reached behind his back to pull a long scythe seemingly out of nowhere.

"Yeager." The name came out as a growl.

"It's a pleazure to see you little liebchen again so soon."

Yuri surged forward, sword drawn. Before he could reach the man, Zagi rushed in to block his path. Even with only one good arm the assassin was still a challenge. Thankfully, Judith sped in to get the drop on the man, grabbing the case. She tried to get a hit in on him as she doubled back, but two young ladies dropped from the ceiling, red and green pigtailed, and blocked her with their paired swords.

"Tis a pity that I cannot stay and play, Katzens, but I have verk to do." He turned, raising the scythe. He spun it, and it transformed into a long arm cannon. He aimed the massive barrel of his weapon upward and fired a shot into the ceiling.

The fire hit the ceiling of the cave and exploded, hailing down stone and bits of metal. The whole of the cavern shook, nearly knocking him to his knees.

By the time the quaking of the cave stopped and they recovered from the blast, the man was gone, as were the two girls and Zagi. He swore, checking the surroundings, but they were long gone. That wasn't the only trouble they had now though. The blast had awoken something almost as bad.

"I-Is that Pteropus?!"

"Pteropus?" Rita asked.

"It's a monster that Nan told me lives in this cave. Here it comes!"

From the ceiling of the cavern came a huge, winged creature, not the dragon from before, but a bat instead. It hung upside down by its talons, gripping the rock. Most of the features of its face and body were hidden in a black mist, save its glowing red eyes. It let loose a deafening shriek, and descended on them.

"We've got this, right, Karol?" Yuri twirled his sword from his right hand over to his left.

"Y-Yeah!" He pumped his fist. "We can do anything!"

"Good. I'm sure Nan would be impressed to hear how you beat this thing." That little comment would drive the boy harder, if for no other reason that the chance to impress his crush.

Rita, Estelle and Raven kept back on the field, supporting with magic and long range attacks while the others focused on surrounding it in head on attacks. It fluttered about and as soon as Yuri made a strike toward its abdomen, it became hazy and splintered into several dozen bats that swarmed them. The cloud was better at dodging their attacks than the single monster had been. They squawked and shrieked and clawed violently at the party. The way they all moved as a unified whole gave Yuri an idea. Just like with a brigade, there had to be a leader and it was likely that he was going to be the biggest and the nastiest of the bunch.

Rather than waste his energy trying to kill them all off, he scanned the cloud, looking for the leader. Once it was defeated, the others wouldn't pose much of a challenge.

The leader bat must have known he was being hunted, but Yuri found him soon enough. He was just as Yuri expected, and tried to dodge or call the others to his aid, but it was to no avail. A few upward strikes and a simple arte was all it took to ground it to where he could perform the finishing blow.

The others cried out at the loss of their leader, but were readily dispatched with a continued assault of sword and fire. Pteropus was defeated, but the would be thieves had still escaped.

"So what are we going to do now?" Karol asked.

"I'm going to the Sands of Kogorh." Rita turned to Estelle as soon as she said that, face a mask of shock, ready to argue. "Since we can't meet with Belius until the new moon, I would like to take this time to find Phaeroh."

"I'm going with you." Yuri had already told Estelle as much.

The genius mage wasn't exactly pleased with that either. "You were supposed to talk some sense into her!"

Yuri shrugged. He really hadn't done much to try and convince her otherwise. If it was what she wanted to do, he had no right to try and stop her. "She was dead set on going. We've got some time to spare, so why not?"

"Lady Estellise--" Of course, Flynn was ready to argue the point also.

"I'm sorry, Flynn, but this is something I have to do. I need to know what Phaeroh meant when he said what he did."

"Why don't we do this democratically? We'll take a vote and decide what to do from there. Once we know what everyone wants, we can plan accordingly."

"Sounds like a great idea, Judy."

"Those who want to head into the desert to find Phaeroh with Estelle, raise your hands." Yuri, Estelle, and Karol replied in kind. "Those who want to go back to Nordopolica and wait until the new moon, raise your hands." Raven, Rita, and Flynn raised their hands.

"What about you and Repede, Judith?" Estelle was eager to see the tie broken.

"Repede says he'll go wherever the rest of us decide."

"I'm coming with you." Judith smiled in that way she did, tilting her hips out and folding her hands behind her back. "After all, I'm the only one who knows where Phaeroh lives."

"So I guess that means that you three are heading back to Nordopolica."

"N-No way! If Estelle insists on going, then I'm going, too."

"If your wish cannot be swayed, Lady Estellise, I, too, will go." Yuri'd had a feeling that if that was what she wanted to do and the rest were in her favor, Flynn would agree too, even if somewhat reluctantly. Dutiful as ever. Yuri had expected to get a glare or an argument from him for that, but it never came and he wasn't sure if he should be relieved by that or not.

"What about you, Old Man?"

"Eh, I'm heading back to wait."

"Okay."

"Wait. You're not even going to try and talk me out of leaving?"

"If that's what you want to do, then it's fine."

He grumbled something of an agreement to go with them, citing how angry the Don would be if they dawdled and ended up missing the new moon and their chance.

 


	33. Chapter 33

The sands of the desert lapped right up against the mountains, like a shore with no sea. The sun was scorching and the air brittle and hot. They weren't even into the Sands of Kogorh yet. This was going to be grueling.

Flynn had been suffering a constant migraine since the night in Nordopolica. It had yet to fade and heat and the light only served to make it worse.

"There's a town just before those two cliffs, built on an oasis. We can get stocked up and well rested before heading into the desert." Yuri pointed out to the northeast, but the two cliffs in the distance were just blurs of grey-brown beyond the haze and of the desert air.

"Have you been in the Sands of Kogorh before?" Estellise asked.

"No. I only went as far as Mantaic on a job for Kaufman. No trade runs through the desert, since there's no cities beyond that."

Flynn had been questioning their motivations for even coming this far, much less into the desert itself, but they had taken a vote and the support was in Lady Estellise's favor. This was better than her going alone and unprotected. Yuri had been right though. They were already so close and they did have some time to spare before they could meet with Belius, so it was only natural to want to get this excursion out of the way. Even well prepared and well rested, this seemed ill advised. Phaeroh had targeted her, and now she wanted to find something that sounded an awful lot like it wanted her dead. _Child of the Full Moon, you are an insidious poison of this world that must be purged._. It was unlikely that she would be able to rest peacefully until she knew what those words meant. Flynn couldn't blame her for that, but she would have been safer if she had stayed with the others in Nordopolica, or better yet, Dahngrest, and allowed him to continue on, even alone. He was learning that once she set her mind to something, there would be no dissuading her. She was almost as stubborn as Yuri, just with a far gentler nature.

They trudged on. This was the consensus they had reached and he had been free to go back to Nordopolica had he wanted to, but his duty was to Lady Estellise. As they neared the cliffs, though, he could see the barest traces of worry play across Yuri's face. There was something wrong, but he wasn't saying what. There was supposed to be a town, and a town meant a barrier, but there was no tell-tale sign, the white, luminescent rings hanging in the sky. His pace quickened a step as they hiked up a dune that allowed them a view over the long miles of sand, through the gap between the cliffs and back into the heat and haze of the milky blue horizon.

There was no town. No barrier, nothing. There was only sand and cliffs, a small oasis, lush with greenery, and beyond that, only the dunes and hot blue sky stretching endlessly.

The worry on Yuri's face became more apparent, but he continued on without a word to add as the others chatted about the strangeness. They closed the gap between them and where Yuri swore the town would be in an hour's time, but the emptiness was no illusion created by the desert.

Through the dust and sand, there were only the barest remnants that a town had been here, crumbling bits of buildings and fragments of wood, looking so old and worn by the desert sand that the town seemed to have disintegrated with time. There had once been a town here, but how long ago, Flynn couldn't say. But if Yuri had been here not that long ago, what could have happened in at most a few years' time?

No one dared to question Yuri's recollection as they walked what were once well-worn streets toward the oasis. In the spring there was a blastia, empty and deactivated, in the form of a broken spearhead that Flynn surmised must have been the barrier blastia for this town.

"What could have happened here?" Estelle asked.

Before anyone could stop her, Rita had waded into the waist deep water and was examining the fallen blastia. "Aside from the obvious state of disrepair the blastia is in, the only other problem I can see is that it's missing the core." If the core had been damaged or stolen, it could be easily assumed that the town could have been destroyed by the monsters that lurked just beyond in the desert. Flynn had heard of it happening before and the very same incident had happened while he was stationed in Ceazontania. Flynn didn't like the places his mind wandered further on either subject.

"Judith, you said you had been through the Sands of Kogorh before. Did you come through here?" Rita asked.

"Yes. It was only a few months ago, but when I left, the blastia and the town were completely intact." She looked over to Yuri, who turned away to look at the blastia once more.

"Let's go ahead and make camp here. It'll be dark soon and we need to rest if we're heading into the desert in the morning."

"But, Yuri, what about what happened here? Aren't you curious?" Estellise asked.

"As curious as I am, there's nothing we can do right now. We should just stick to the plan and when we get back to Nordopolica, we can ask around about it. Someone there has to know something."

"I suppose you're right."

Night came quickly in the desert, the sun sinking below the horizon just as Rita was getting the fire started. Karol volunteered to cook, Rita was examining the blastia with Estellise's assistance. Raven had opted for a nap, while Judith and then Yuri and Repede left camp separately with excuses that they were taking a walk. Flynn was left to set up the scent barrier to keep the monsters away. Whatever Karol was making for dinner piqued his interest and he went to investigate when he was done with his work.

"What's for dinner, Karol?"

"Beef stew. Yuri taught me how to make it."

"It smells really good." He sat down by the fire, across from the boy. "I've been meaning to ask, how did you and Yuri meet?"

"I've been with Yuri as long as I can remember. He helped raise me after my parents died in the Great War when I was just a baby. He was only about the age I am now when he took me in and cared for me like I was his own brother."

The image that came to mind caused Flynn to chuckled audibly. The idea of Yuri having anything to do with a baby seemed bizarre, from the feeding to the washing and changing, to the dark haired guildsman rocking baby Karol to sleep, humming to himself. It was a surreal thought at the very least, but it certainly painted a picture of Yuri that was much different from what he knew.

"What's so funny?" Karol was overtly offended by the mild laugh that escaped him. "It's true!"

"No, I'm sorry. I believe you. It just seemed farfetched for someone like Yuri."

"Yuri's the best family I could ever ask for. I don't know what my life would be like without him." The boy grew strangely quiet as he continued to sir the pot.

"It sounds like you really admire him."

That livened him up a bit. "He's the coolest! One day, I want to be as strong as him and have a guild of my own, a guild that's even greater than Altosk!"

"But if you do that, won't that make you Yuri's rival since he works for Altosk?"

"See, I thought about that, and I think being Yuri's rival wouldn't be bad. It doesn't mean we couldn't be friends and having someone as strong as him as my rival would only make me want to get stronger so that I could live up to it."

Flynn had never thought about rivals that way. With the longstanding rivalry between the Empire and the Union, it had never occurred to him that a friendly rivalry was possible, or to what lengths that bond might drive two people.

"Other than Don Whitehorse, Yuri's the person I admire the most. As a kid, he left Zaphias and fought his way to Dahngrest all by himself, with the sword that he still carries now."

That also seemed farfetched. The idea that a child could make it from the capital even to a place like Deidon Hold or Halure by themselves with the monsters running amok just beyond the safety of the barrier was unheard of. Even seasoned fighters traveled in groups or caravans. To walk the roads alone was death. "Did he tell you that?"

"Nah. Raven did. The Don was so impressed by Yuri that he adopted him and made him a member of the most powerful guild in the Union."

Even if the basis of the story, that Yuri had made an exodus from Zaphias at a young age, were true, there were pieces added in and missing. Perhaps Raven had exaggerated the tale because Yuri didn't seem like that sort. He had mentioned only tiny slivers and hints about his past, but overall didn't seem impressed or proud of it.

"How old was he when he left Zaphias?"

"Raven said that Yuri was about ten when he made it to Dahngrest."

Something about that made Flynn's stomach churn uneasily, but he wasn't sure what. He knew that he did not need to be stuck thinking about that on top of the millions of other thoughts plaguing his brain. Right now, he was ready for something to eat and some sleep before they headed out to find Phaeroh, but he knew that it was likely he would once more be left lying awake.

 

* * *

 

As the sun went down, the oasis cooled substantially, but he didn't care much. He was investigating, shifting through sand and rubble for any trace of what used to be. The town of Mantaic had been here a year earlier, lively and quaint, and although his visit here had been brief, it had been an enjoyable one. The theories about what could have happened here were numerous, but one stuck out in his mind with the current evidence. The barrier blastia had either failed or been stolen and monsters had overrun the area. If that had been the case, though, there should have been buildings standing still.

Toward what was once the entrance to Mantaic, he found the foundation of a building. From the size of it, he assumed that it was the inn, but all that indicated that was an outline of heavy base stones. Repede hopped over the wall and cast his sensitive nose across the layers of sand. Yuri followed him, pushing aside piles of the white grit in hopes of finding anything below. Repede sounded off in one of the building's corners, a short, quiet bark to get his attention and then a whine before he began digging into the sand. As Yuri approached his position, the dog unearthed a pile of bones and Yuri crouched to get a closer look.

He was no expert, but the shape of the arm and attached hand told him that this had been a human, small in stature. Probably a child. He lifted the bones with a tenderness, examining them closely. There were no bite or claw marks in the bones to indicate a monster had caused this, and in his investigation thus far, he had found no monster bones either. It was looking like this was not the result of an attack after a barrier failure, but what else could have wiped out a whole village?

He dug a little further with Repede's help and found a small ribcage with another arm attached, and clenched in a the tiny hand, something scorched and wooden. It was a small statue, hand carved of a dog, of Repede, standing on all fours. It had once been proud looking, but it was charred now, blackened from fire. This was a bit of Yuri's handiwork, a carving he had made for a young girl who had become friends with Repede during their visit here. From the way it was clutched in the bare and bony fingers, he could tell that the child had been holding it close during whatever may have happened here. She had treasured it until the very end.

Yuri stood, sickened, even the air around him almost too heavy to bear, and took a deep breath to calm himself. This was not a monster attack, but he wasn't sure what it was. He was sure that he didn't like the taste this left in his mouth or all the questions racing through his mind. The blood burning in his veins was sickeningly familiar though, and he knew that whatever, or whoever, had caused this was going to regret it. He would personally be sure of that.

They left the ruins of the inn and headed back toward the oasis center. Before they got there, he spotted Judith standing in the open air just beyond what had been the boundaries of the town. There was a question that he needed to ask her, so he approached. She seemed distracted, her crimson eyes cast skyward and looking as distant as he felt when staring up at Brave Vesperia. She turned to him at the last second, eyes returning from the starry skies and she smiled.

"Whatever has you this far from camp?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I've been talking to Ba'ul. He unfortunately doesn't have any clue as to what might have happened here."

"You can talk to him even if he's far away?"

"Yes. We Kritya have a special organ in our brains that allows for communication with his kind. But even beyond that, we share a special connection. It's something very similar to what you and Repede share." Her smiled faded. "But that's not what you've come to ask me, is it?"

"No." He didn't hesitate. "Did you destroy the blastia in this town?" She had said the blastia had been fine when she was here, but he needed to hear it explicitly as a direct answer to his question. He knew what her current track record with blastia was. She had managed to destroy four, although her targets seemed to be arbitrary as opposed to all blastia. After all, she had not gone after Dahngrest's barrier that he knew of, and both he and Repede still carried theirs as a memento of their time with Niren. What sort of criteria made them a target for her?

"No." There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in her answer and she looked him directly in the eyes. "As I said before, the barrier blastia was completely intact when I left this town."

"You've destroyed others. Why not this one?"

"It wasn't one of the ones I'm looking for."

"I see." Even with what he knew about her, he had no reason not to believe her. When he knew the right questions to ask, she was always forthcoming.

"How is your shoulder?"

"Huh? Oh, it's fine. Why?" He subconsciously rotated the joint, feeling the tightness in his skin of the new scar that Zagi had given him.

"Just some friendly concern, that's all. That was certainly some hit you took for Flynn."

He shrugged, not knowing what sort of response she was looking for.

"Why did you take that hit anyway?"

"Hey, I was just in the right place at the right time. That's all." It wasn't like he had intentionally protected Flynn. Why would he even do that? His body had moved on instinct and that was it. Coincidences completely aside, it was nothing more than that. There was no reason for either of them to be thinking so much into this.

"If you say so." She always smiled like she knew something he didn't, but that was her poker face. He had seen it in action, against himself and others, many times at the card table at the Sagittarius where she would often destroy the self esteem of many a man who fancied himself good at cards. He was pretty sure that she repeated this process in other cities, out playing their amateurs and experts alike and taking them for everything that they were worth before moving on to better prospects.

"Well, I'm going back to camp. Don't be out too late, or there won't be any dinner left."

"Oh my, that's a terrible thing indeed. I'll return soon."

The walk back to camp was long and cold and desolate, even with Repede at his side. The cold wind howled undeterred through the cliffs before them an across the sands like savage beasts at his back, waiting for their chance to strike, waiting to consume him at a single misplaced step. It was shocking compared to the warmth and friendliness that had been here.

As they neared the camp, the fire was set, and a pot on top was full of dinner and around it were Karol, Flynn, and Raven, with Estelle and Rita closing in. Everyone was warm and safe with faces lit up like stars and the heaviness in him eased ever so slightly. Thank the gods for small miracles.


	34. Chapter 34

They got their start hours before dawn to ensure they would be able to get as much travel in as possible before they would have to stop during the hottest hours of the day. Yuri shook the others from their sleeping bags and they rose to pack with minimal complaint and only one or two fireballs aimed at his head. He pushed them onward until almost noon, when they took a long break. He fixed a simple, light meal that wouldn't cause them to complain further from the heat and they took turns napping.

As much as he complained about nearly everything else, Yuri didn't get a single complaint out of Raven for the heat or otherwise. He almost seemed to be enjoying the blistering heat and the suffocating desert air. Yuri wanted to slap him for it.

They took a second break in the middle of the afternoon as their canteens were running low on water, and he and Flynn and Estelle took the lot of them to a bunch of nearby cacti, where he showed the two of them how to get water from the plants. Careful to avoid the spines, he chopped off the top of the plant, revealing a slick green interior with a chamber of water housed there. He dipped in each canteen to fill it, passing them back before taking a long swig out of his own and refilling it a second time. He had given most of his water to Karol earlier, and the word 'parched' was not even beginning to describe how his mouth and throat felt.

The water was warm and viscous like syrup without managing to be nearly as sweet or tolerable. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Estelle took a sip and stifled a gag. She must not have found the sensation too pleasant either.

"It's not great, but it'll keep us from dying of thirst."

They continued for two more days. They alternated between walking and resting, night and day, trying to cross as much of the sands as they could during the cooler hours of the day and leaving the hotter ones for resting. The desert seemed endless, heat and fatigue plaguing them with each step. They passed through an area with large depressions in the dunes, sides lined with bits of gold-green glass that glittered in the sun. They were strange and out of place and the group took a break beside one of them. Rather than stick to the shade for the time, Yuri stood at the edge of one of the pits, observing the slight flow of sand against the sharp, glass-lined basin.

In all his travels, he had never heard of something like this. The bottoms of the basins were scorched and he had a sinking feeling that it wasn't simply from the heat of the desert sun. Rita took a sample of the sand and glass in a tube, examining it through her goggles.

"What do you make of it?"

"I won't really know until I can get to a lab. There's only so many field tests I can perform. I do know that deposits like this don't occur naturally, even in heat like this. Glass is created when extreme heat is applied to a substance like sand. Even my fire magic attacks don't reach a temperature that high."

"It's a very interesting occurrence indeed." Judith stepped up beside them leaning a bit over the pit.

"Aren't you hot?" Rita wiped sweat from her face with a greasy rag that she tucked back into her breast pocket.

"Not really."

"Well, dressed like that, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Oh? What do you mean, Rita? Don't you like my outfit?"

"T-That's not what I mean!" The mage flushed. "Don't put words into my mouth!"

Judith only smiled slyly and watched as Rita turned an even brighter shade of red before turning sharply and heading back to their modest camp. She giggled a bit and turned to Yuri.

"Maybe you shouldn't tease her so much."

"But it's really such fun." She grew somber after a moment and continued. "I've seen these before."

"What? Where?"

"To the north of here is a place call Mt. Temza. If you get a chance, you should head up there someday. It may prove insightful."

"What caused them there?"

"I don't know. But they're there."

"How much further to Phaeroh's?"

"It's the huge black crag looming in the distance there." She pointed at it. "Phaeroh lives there, although he won't be too happy to see us."

"Figured as much, but this is what Estelle wanted."

"Why is someone who hates the Empire so interested in helping its princess?"

Yuri shrugged. "I just feel like it."

"Hm. You're very strange, you know."

"I could say the same about you."

"Really? I don't think I'm strange at all."

"Of course you wouldn't."

He returned to camp after staring out at the strange formations a little longer, and tried to take a nap. The heat was suffocating even in the shade of a nearby cliff. The cactus water was sitting sickeningly on his stomach, a warmth that sloshed around uncomfortably. After days of drinking it, it seemed only marginally better than dying of thirst.

"The pooch and I are gonna scout ahead a bit." Raven's shadow over him did little to ease the heat either.

"It's unnatural." He still wanted to hit the old man for being so chipper, but didn't waste the strength. "Okay. Don't get lost."

Repede whined and panted. It had to be hotter through a fur coat than even being dressed all in black.

"Keep the Old Man out of trouble, Repede."

The shadow faded as Raven and Repede wandered off into the dunes, leaving Yuri to think of how hot it was once more. He took another sip from his canteen in the hopes that it would help with the sweat rolling down his form, but as soon as the canteen reached his lips, he realized how stupid that was. For a while, he faded in and out of sleep, the heat making him so uncomfortable and so tired.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he heard Raven's voice once more as Repede barked at him and Karol chimed in excitedly.

"Yuri! Yuri! Raven and Repede found water! Real water!"

"What...?" The heat was making him groggy.

Raven hoisted him up with a hand under his arm. "Come on. Found a little oasis not too far from here. It'll be better if we rest there."

Hearing it a second time helped him shake off the heat and the fatigue and he helped the others pack up camp quickly. After a short trek under the blistering sun, they found what Raven and Repede had told them about. Against another cliff was a flowing spring of cool, clear water surrounded by a ring of green plants. Karol and Rita had plopped down in the water before everyone else could drop their packs.

For the first time all day, there were more than a dozen words spoken between them all. The older members of the group didn't hold off much more from wading into the water to cool off. It was at Yuri's knees at its deepest by the cliff and the small fountain flowing there gave him ample water to wash the sweat off himself with. He pushed back his hair and let the cool water trickle against his scalp and neck and down his back and, for a moment, he couldn't remember ever thinking so highly of this simple necessity.

They all sat around for an hour or so, chatting and cooling off in the shade provided by the plants. They drank their fill and filled their canteens again, glad to be rid of the cactus water that had been sustaining them. For a while at least, everything was calm and serene.

They all felt alive once more and grateful for it. He was the first on his feet once the most sweltering hours of the day had passed, and urged the others on. They needed to press on at least a little further before they stopped for the night and a few more hours' rest. He was just as tired as they were, only the feeling was better hidden. He had powered through worse than scorching heat and endless sand dunes. He couldn't let this get to him. If they kept moving, if he kept moving, it would be fine. He always told himself that and it had never failed him in the past. As long as he kept moving, his path would have to take him somewhere eventually. Whether or not that somewhere happened to be a place he wanted to go remained to be seen.

The heat of the afternoon was worse as they neared the heart of the desert and that black crag that had been so distant became closer. It was still a while away, another day maybe. The terrain became harder to traverse than the easy sandy dunes. Rocky outcroppings and steep hills made them exert more energy and in turn use more of their precious water. The monsters in this area were less scarce and better adapted than humans to this environment. They were tougher, and the strain that the group was feeling bore down heavier.

The path dropped them into an area of shallow canyons, tightly formed between the cliff sides. After a long time and with only a few hours until sundown, the path began to widen once more, into the open flat of dunes.

"Is it time to stop yet?

"Not yet. Just a bit further."

"We're making a remarkably good pace."

"Just so long as we keep it up and nothing happens--"

A screech split the silence of the desert and forced their eyes upward to a descending figure. Yuri half hoped it was Phaeroh, but this dark, fish-like gelatinous form was far different.

"What is that?!"

"I don't know, but here it comes!" He had his sword drawn in a flash, ready to face this creature.

It shrieked again and seemed to swim toward them through the air, its long flat wings rippling as it moved. It had no discernible face, only a hole surrounded by tendrils and from which it continued its series of horrible, blood-curdling noises. It glided quickly, and through its semi-transparent, dark blue-black exterior, he could see an orb of glowing light. Out of all the monsters he had faced, he had never seen anything like this before.

The creature dove at them, scattering their ranks and focusing its aggression to the right, where it had knocked Estelle, Raven, and Rita.

Yuri and Repede double teamed it, each attacking from a different side, and Karol moved in underneath it. It flailed, trying to draw its mass backward and up into the air to evade them. His sword cut through it slowly, deterred by its gel-like flesh, and when he completed the follow through of the strike, the injury mended itself easily. He hadn't managed to cause a grievous wound, but he had pulled its attention away from the others long enough to let Rita cast a rain of fire down on it that sizzled and scorched its form. It retaliated, dropping down in a long, swift swoop to attempt to crush them and they all somehow managed to dodge.

Attacking the exterior of this creature with physical attacks seemed largely useless. Magic was effective, so he gave a quick order to Karol to protect Rita and Estelle so they could keep casting. Even ineffective, Yuri still struck it in an attempt to drive it back and corner it against one of the cliffs. His artes seemed to be doing just enough damage to keep it in check, and Judith and Flynn came in from the side to do the same. Every little bit would help.

After a few seconds of the sword and spell onslaught, the fish monster curled into a ball, still floating, and at its center, a bright white core began to glow. They paused long enough to try and discern what it was doing, but before it was clear, the creature unfurled quickly, its jelly flesh spiking out like spears against them. A second layer flared higher, catching his right arm and piercing it.

He winced as the sharp pressure pulled back, but the adrenaline bursting like flashes of lighting in him kept him from feeling enough of the pain that he continued his attack instantly. A little injury like that wouldn't make him back off.

The monster pulled back once more and swooped in to try and crush them. Judith leapt up and dove with her spear in mid air, dropping down onto the back of the creature and impaling it. It shrieked and flailed, but she only pinned it down harder. Being temporarily grounded gave the others the opportunity to return to their assault. They cut into it as fast and as hard as they could, chipping into its jelly flesh. Yuri could feel his movements start to slow, his feet feeling so strangely heavy and his head blurry. He tried to tighten his grip on his sword, but his fingers felt weak. Had he already lost that much blood that his consciousness was threatening to slip? He urged his body onward still. He could shake this off. This was nothing.

A shout of 'First Aid' and a flash of green brought him quick relief, renewing the energy in his body and closing the wound on his arm. It hadn't been Estelle, but Flynn who had come to his aid, and moved from a temporary support role back into his fighter's motions. He wouldn't let the effort go to waste. Yuri threw himself back into the heat of the fight and in spite of the blazing desert around him, he felt more energetic than he had in days of traversing. Yuri was in his element after all.

The creature bucked Judith off, sending her flying into Rita who had paused to catch her breath from the continuous casting. They got up quickly enough that Yuri didn't worry about it and through the noise of swords and attacks, he heard Estelle heal them and then turn her potent artes back to supporting them against the creature. Her casting made his feet feel faster and his blade sharper. The monster didn't heal itself as quickly anymore through the brutal onslaught they kept up. It shrieked and balled up again, but they knew what was coming this time. Yuri didn't give it a chance to spike out a second time and as soon as the orb of light within it started to pulse and glow, he struck forward as hard as as fast he could, his sword tore through its exterior and pierced the light.

It grew blindingly bright and the sheer force of the blast that followed threw them all back into the sand. Its core destroyed, it dissipated into nothingness.

He pulled himself and Karol out of the sand and Repede dug Flynn out a few feet away. Judith pulled Rita and Estelle up and Karol moved on to help Raven where he was almost buried head first.

"What the hell was that?"

"I'm not sure. In all my travels, I'd never seen anything quite like that," Judith said, looking up into the bright sky where the creature had come from.

"Well, whatever it was, we know how to take care of them now." Yuri made it sound like that last battle had been trivial, but the fatigue was settling in him much faster now.

A few thuds in the sand caused him to turn. Karol had fallen, passed out, and Estelle beside him. Rita wobbled a second before Judith could make it to her aid. One by one the others too collapsed in the hot desert sand until he was the only still standing. His knees buckled weakly and threatened to give way, but he had to fight on. He couldn't give up. He struggled to remain standing, to maintain consciousness.

Off in the distance, he spotted something. Maybe a mile or two, another oasis, a spot of green dotted with buildings. It was so close. Just over the dunes. He could drag the others. Their weight wouldn't be that heavy. He could do it, then they'd be safe. If there were buildings, there had to be people, but he didn't know of any settlements this far into the desert. Maybe he was hallucinating, but he couldn't give out hope.

His legs gave way and he dropped to one knee, propping himself up. If he just kept moving, everything would be fine. His other leg folded underneath him, plopping him flat on his face in the scorching sand. Darkness tried to overcome him, but he fought it off, wriggling as hard as he could. Yuri was only able to make it onto his back, but it was a start. If he was still conscious, there was still a small hope.

A shadow passed over the sun, a temporary relief until he spotted what cast the shadow. The dragon from the Weasand of Cados was descending on them and he couldn't even hold his sword. Darkness washed over him and all he could think to say to deter the creature was, "I hope you choke on my bones...."

_Foolish humans._

Like a dune in the wind, his consciousness washed away.


	35. Chapter 35

When the heat of the desert melted away, he was sure he was dead. Cool, calm, and comfort replaced it as he drifted, and he felt at peace. Finally he could rest.

But death meant that he had failed and the thought of failure ripped away the comfort and left his nerves raw. He had failed to protect Estellise. He had failed to save Ioder. He had failed to save the Empire from Alexei. With death was the loss of all hope. It was all over. Everything was gone. He wasn't ready to die. He wasn't ready to just lay down and give up.

Flynn jolted into consciousness and was greeted by a cool breeze wafting through a room he didn't recognize, gently billowing curtains of softly washed blue and purple. He took a moment to look around at the quaint room. The other beds were empty and made and told him that this was likely an inn, but how had he gotten there? There was another question that was more pressing to him: Where was everyone else?

He threw himself out of the bed and his legs felt weak and limp as soon as his feet hit the floor. He took a moment to steady himself.

"Oh, you're awake." He didn't recognize the voice or face that greeted him from the doorway. The man was dressed strangely, in layered robes of a light material with a vest and numerous colorful sashes.

"Where are my friends? Were there others with me?"

"Your friends woke hours ago. They're probably out in the village."

"Thank you." As soon as he could stand on his own, he pulled on his boots and headed out the curtain covered entrance of the inn into a small village. It was just a cluster of buildings and greenery that sat crunched up against a rocky sound. It was serene and cool and a welcome change from the desert.

"Oh, Flynn! Thank goodness that you're awake!"

He turned to see Estellise and Rita standing out in the grass near the village well. It gave him a small reassurance that he wasn't dead just yet. "Is everyone all right?"

"Yes. We made it out of the desert okay somehow."

"Where are we?"

"From what the locals have told us, this is the village of Yormgen."

That sounded familiar, but he couldn't place the name. Rita spoke up. "That was the village named in the captain's journal on the Atherum. The thing is, that entry was dated almost a thousand years ago. If that's the case, how is this piddly village still here? Not even Zaphias has been around that long." She didn't give him a chance to comment, but he was getting used to that. "And there's no barrier here. Hell, I haven't seen a single piece of blastia anywhere."

"You must be going crazy without it then, Rita." Karol teased as he and Judith appeared, Raven slumping along behind them. From the supplies they were carrying, it appeared as though they had just left the general store. As soon as he was within range, Rita swatted the boy.

"It is rather odd," Judith added. "We wake up in a village without blastia that seems to date back before the age of the Empire. Even the people here are strange. None of them know anything about the world beyond this, but they are pleasant and simple folk. They couldn't even tell us how we made it here."

"That's all very strange."

"Things don't clear up much outside of town either." Yuri and Repede came up from a trail that seemed to lead out of town. “No one here has ever seen or heard of a monster like the one we faced. They said that the village sage might know, but we haven't had a chance to go ask him yet."

"Since we're already here, would it be all right if we looked for the Yuefan mentioned in the captain's journal?"

"I doubt she'd have waited a thousand years, but if that's what you want to do, go ahead. We can ask around while we head up toward the Sage's house." He motioned with his thumb over his shoulder to the largest house that sat just beyond the cluster of buildings.

He had to know that the likelihood that anyone even remembered a young lady from a thousand years ago was very slim. Even the written records kept by the Empire spanned back 800 years at best. Why would he let her do something that was obviously futile? Estellise must have known also, but she still approached a few of the villagers, asking after a woman named Yuefan. The response was surprising.

"Oh, you're looking for Yuefan? She spends her days staring out at the ocean. You can find her just up over there." the man pointed to a set of patios that stretched over the pebble covered shore and had feet planted in the water of the harbor.

Estellise thanked the man and they walked to the group of simple observation decks. There was a young woman among those that stood there, and she stared out into the blue waves even as they approached.

"Excused me, but are you Yuefan?"

"Yes, I am." She turned slowly. She was somber and serene, with dark hair pulled back in a simple bun and dressed in cool, pastel robes of green. "Who are you?"

"We're just travelers passing through," Yuri answered.

"How odd. What can I do for you?"

Estellise held the case out to her and her eyes instantly lit up.

"Where did you find this? Does this mean that you met Longchi?"

"Longchi?" Estellise asked.

"Yes. He is my fiancee and the captain of the ship the Atherum." She folded her hands across her chest and Flynn could see a red cord tied in a knot on her left ring finger. It was most probably a sign that she was promised. "He set sail three years ago with a promise to return with the clear ciel crystal. I gave him this chest to carry it in."

"The clear ciel crystal? What is that?" Karol chimed in. Twice now they had heard of it.

"The sage of our village is a wise Krityan and he told us that if we were to obtain what is known as the clear ciel crystal, he could make a barrier to protect our town from monsters. Longchi volunteered to find it." She shifted her gazed to the largest building in the village that sat north on a hill and was decorated much the same as the other buildings. "But how did you get this?"

Estellise bit her lip, at a loss for how to explain the very odd and convoluted circumstances, but Yuri stepped in.

"We encountered the Atherum on the high seas. Your fiancee asked us to bring this to you with a promise that he would return as soon as he could."

It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either, but Yuefan seemed relieved to hear it.

"Thank you." She pulled a long cord from around her neck and pulled out a key that had been safely nestled in her robes. With a click, she opened the box. Inside the velvet lined box was a crystal of massive proportions, shimmering blue and green with hints of gold refracting off its numerous surfaces. "Would you mind taking this to the sage for me?"

"Sure. We're heading up there anyway." Yuri took the crystal in both his hands and handed it off to Estellise, who cradled it carefully against her bosom.

She bowed and thanked them again and they continued up the hill through the village to the sage's house.

"Yuri, why did you lie to her like that?" Karol asked, padding alongside the guildsman.

"Sometimes a lie is for the benefit of the person being lied to." Yuri looked down for a split second as if remembering all the 'beneficial' lies he had told Karol over the years. "Lies aren't always meant to be harmful. Imagine how she would have reacted if she knew the truth."

"Speakin' of the truth, don't ya think her story was a little strange?" Raven changed the subject and Yuri seemed grateful for it.

"Yeah, now that you mention it. She said that the Atherum set sail three years ago, but the journal we found on the same ship dated back over a thousand years."

"She didn't seem like she was lying to us," Estellise said.

"I agree," Judith added, tapping her chin lightly with her index finger. "But even if she was merely mistaken, no one miscounts a thousand years."

"This whole place is pretty strange. I've never heard of a town this far into the desert, otherwise Kaufman would have her claws in it. The buildings are a lot different from what I've seen before, and the clothing the people are wearing, too."

"And there's no blastia. At all. What kind of town sits in the desert with no barrier blastia to protect it, especially over a thousand years?"

"Maybe this 'sage' will have an answer for us." Yuri mounted the steps of the sage's house and stopped at the front door. Everyone else assembled around him and he knocked firmly on the door, two sharp raps with his right hand.

It was a long moment before the simple handle moved and the door slid open, revealing someone they had not at all expected. Instead of a wise old Krityan, Duke stood before them, his red eyes scanning them cautiously.

"What are you doing here?" there was a tinge of surprise to the normally cool depth of his voice.

"We could ask you the same thing."

"No matter." He left the door open, but turned his back to them, allowing them to enter the cozy loft house that was decorated similarly to the other buildings they had seen.

"So you're here pretending to be the sage?" Rita was ready to immediately continue the discussion.

"Such a person no longer exists." Duke turned back. "Why have you come here?"

Estellise held up the clear ciel crystal. "We were told that the sage of this village requested this in order to build a barrier for the city."

"But only blastia are capable of such a feat. You can't use just anything."

Duke's eyes narrowed. "That must have cost you a great deal to get a hold of."

"Actually, we sort of happened on it by chance." Yuri added. "Do you know what this is?"

"It is an apathetia, and the sage was correct in saying that such an item could be used to create a barrier blastia."

"That's impossible!"

"It is no different than a core. It merely lacks an inscribed formula to conduct the aer appropriately." He reached a long, slender arm over and gently took the crystal from Estellise.

"So that's an apathetia..." Raven muttered from the back of the group.

"What do you mean?"

"An item like this has no place in the hands of humans." Duke set the crystal on the floor with a tender touch and drew his sword. The curved and strangely shaped blade began to glow, an ominous red aura swirling around it.

"Wait!"

Even Rita diving for the crystal didn't stop him from striking it with the tip of his blade and shattering it into a cloud of dust.

He stared at them as calm as could be while they gawked at him in a mix of shock and anger. He seemed completely unconcerned with what they thought even as the mage confronted him and Yuri and Estellise had to hold her back.

"There's no point, Rita. What's done is done. We should just leave."

"I don't understand. Why would you destroy that crystal if it was what they needed in order to protect the town?" Estellise asked.

"This village has been granted an eternal calm and has no need for a barrier."

"But there are still monsters nearby. What if something like Phaeroh were to attack?"

"You know of Phaeroh?"

"What do you know about him?" Yuri asked, surely seeing the look of surprise and recognition in Duke's eyes that Flynn saw as well.

He was silent though he regarded them quietly.

"Please... I need to know what Phaeroh meant when he called me a 'poison.'"

"There is a being in this world that possesses a power that the Entelexeia despise."

"You mean... me? But why?"

"This being is known as the Child of the Full Moon. And the answer is something safely guarded within the hearts of the Entelexeia." He turned away from them once more, lowering the sword so that its tip rested firmly on the floor. "Now leave. There is nothing left here for you."

"Wait! I'm not done talking to you!"

"It's pointless, Rita. If he doesn't want to talk, he's not going to." Yuri nearly had to pull the mage out of the house, and they were followed by the others. It seemed as though the general consensus was that their discussion had done little to remedy their confusion.

Rita huffed and pulled away from him, storming down the stairs. "Fine, but next time we meet that guy, I'll get the information I want out of him, so help me."

"So that was an apathetia?"

"What's up, Old Man?"

"Whitehorse asked me to look for 'em and here I had one under my nose this whole time."

"Gramps is going to tan your hide for that." Yuri turned back to the still fuming Rita. "You said something earlier about having more research you wanted to do?"

"Yes. I won't take up a lot of time. If you can give me until tomorrow morning, I think I can get it all done."

"All right. We'll stay the night and move on in the morning after we've had some rest. Is that okay with everyone else?" After receiving a collective nod, he looked up into the late afternoon sky. The moon could be seen, hanging near the horizon, just half full. Yuri sighed and looked over to Estellise. "Sorry, but it looks like we should put off our search for Phaeroh for now. If we leave tomorrow, we should make it back to Nordopolica just in time for the new moon."

"That's fine. Meeting with Belius and helping to save the Empire come before my personal wishes."

"Well, everybody get some rest. We still have to trek back across the desert."

"Aw man!"

"Did ya hafta remind us?!"

* * *

 

He wasn't ready to sleep yet. His skin was crawling with the strange vibe that this village gave him. The residents were all friendly, but the way they spoke, their mannerisms, and the way they dressed were all unusual. Something about this whole situation was odd. How had they gotten to this village of Yormgen and how, without a barrier, was this town still standing after apparently a thousand years? How could the young lady named Yuefan, who was mentioned in the Captain's journal on the Atherum, still be alive when her fiancee was a thousand years deceased? She had told them and seemed to honestly believe that only three years had passed since her love had set sail, but all other evidence indicated it had been far longer. What was going on in Yormgen?

Flynn had long ago grown tired of sleepless nights. He was on the verge of sheer sleep deprivation at this point, and the only thing keeping him going was the hope of returning home soon and stopping whatever Alexei had planned. He couldn't let himself think of what state the capital was in or how Ioder was faring as it only made him feel the chill of fear settle in his limbs. He only hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

He wrestled himself out of his bed and quietly left the room where the rest of the party was sleeping soundly. The open air of the village was of little comfort, but at least it wasn't freezing cold like the Sands of Kogorh had been after the sun went down. In comparison, this place was beautiful and peaceful.

The streets were empty and the stark silence of it made him feel for a fraction of a moment like he was the only person on Terca Lumireis. He swore that he could feel the warm imprints of those that had walked those streets before him. Although he wanted to be alone, he had never felt more lonely in his entire life. It was as though he was left walking the places where people had once been, many years before him, many lives beyond his own.

As he rounded out of the cluster of buildings that made the town proper, and started up the hill, he spotted Yuri standing on one of the wooden patios, looking out across the bay. Flynn had noticed on the ocean the way he always seemed restless. He must have been just as put off by the environment where they found themselves as he was. Flynn was still tentative about approaching the dark guildsman, but the mere presence of the man made the universe feel just a little less empty.

"You can't sleep either?" He must have heard Flynn approach, but he didn't turn to look at him.

"No. Something about this place unnerves me."

"This town is pretty weird."

"How did we even get here?"

"You remember the dragon we saw in the Weasand of Cados? It was the last thing I saw before I passed out. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with it."

"Oh," was all Flynn could think to say. Something about the dragon that they had encountered once before didn't sit right with him. It had seemed like it was going to attack them, but had instead calmed the aer krene that had been raging out of control and now even Yuri suspected it may have been involved in their exodus to this strange village. "Do you think it could have been Duke?"

"I doubt it. He seemed as surprised to see us as we were to see him."

As that topic of conversation trailed off, Flynn found himself almost enjoying the first moment of quiet solidarity between them and it made him remember something that he had been meaning to say. It needed to be said, even if Yuri brushed it off or ignored it. "Thank you."

"Wait. What?"

"You have my thanks. You saved me in Nordopolica by taking that hit from Zagi."

"Oh that. Whatever. I was just in the wrong place at the right time." That was pretty much the response Flynn had expected, but the depth and breadth of the scar must have been sitting heavy and tight with new skin across his shoulder. He never seemed to take credit for the things he did, only quietly bear the scars that they left him with.

"If you're the kind of person who would endanger his own life to protect someone that he bears mutual hostilities with, then why?"

"I don't think Estelle would ever forgive me if I let you get skewered by a maniac like that." He was hiding behind another excuse.

"If you're such a good person, why do you kill?"

"I don't understand why it's so hard for you to wrap your head around it." Yuri looked at him for the first time in their conversation and his half-lidded eyes were calm and remorseless. "The world is a better place without people like Ragou, whether or not you agree with what I've done. If that makes me a monster in the end, so be it." His monstrous acts seemed to be something he had no problem taking credit for.

"But Cumore was different."

Yuri tensed but tried to hide it.

"You went after him because of Niren, didn't you?" The implications of that were far different. Flynn assumed that revenge had motivated Yuri there, not for those that Cumore had ordered hung from the gallows, but for a single man that Yuri called his friend. Yuri could not say that it had been for the good of others, for the good of the world if that were indeed the cause. If what Flynn assumed was true, his motivation there had been his desire for blood and retribution.

A disgusted look passed over the guildsman's face, but he hid it behind a sickened half-smile. "Looks like you've got me there." Had he not realized it at the time, or even earlier than this moment? Had he been caught up in the inevitability that he would be taking Cumore's life one day, sooner or later, and revenge had clouded his brain? "These are the choices I've made and there's no point in regretting them now."

Before Flynn could reply, Yuri turned and walked off, leaving Flynn feeling even more alone than he had only moments before.

 


	36. Chapter 36

The next morning, they gathered around the town well after they made their preparations to depart. They left the village of Yormgen behind.

The desert was even more relentless in its oppression of them on the trudge back. Karol had thankfully been keeping up with their map, so they were able to stop at the oasis once more to rest and refill as they crossed the scorching hot landscape. After a few days' time, with the moon waning further to a thin crescent, they managed to make it back to the oasis that stood where Mantaic had been, and further on to the entrance of the Weasand of Cados. That cold, dank cave would be a welcome relief from the heat of the desert. Or at least that was what he had thought.

As they prepared to enter the cave, Yuri forced them to a stop. He could hear voices, sharp, clipped tones issuing orders that he couldn't hear from this distance. He and Repede pressed forward to investigate, leaving the rest of the party to wait for them.

Just inside the entrance of the cave, he saw what he had been worried about. Knights, almost half a brigade worth, and with them, a group of mages. They seemed to have the area secured, and as he watched for a few long moments, he could see the mages fiddling with flat canister devices with purple cores and a peculiar emblem that he recognized.

"Hurry up and get those detonators set."

"Don't rush us. The arming features on these are tricky. If we're not careful, they could blow this whole mountain with us in it."

"...Just try to be quick about it. We need to head back to Nordopolica as soon as possible for further orders from Sir Garista."

If Garista had something to do with this, then they were definitely up to no good. The fact that they mentioned Nordopolica also set Yuri on edge. Did they have a foothold in Palestralle's city already? He listened a little longer to try and get more information, but they quieted on the subject, instead favoring news of the Coliseum bouts. He and Repede returned quietly to the party, who were waiting impatiently outside of the cave.

"What's going on, Yuri?" Estelle asked.

"The cavern is full of knights."

"What? All the way out here? Why?" He motioned to Karol to keep his voice down.

"I don't know, but I overheard them talking about some detonators."

Rita sprung toward the cave entrance, but he stopped her. "Let me go!"

"I wanna rush in there as much as you do, but we need to be smart about this."

"They're going to--"

"I know. They're planning on sealing off the cave. The devices they're using look like this." He used a stick to draw a crude depiction in the sand of the device he had seen the mages handling. "Can you disarm them?"

"I'll need a better look at them, but if it's this style, they aren't too complicated."

"Great. Now we need some way to distract them so we can get in there."

Judith looked over at him with a sly smile that he quickly returned with a frown. She thankfully didn't bring up the idea of his distraction tactic from Heliord.

"We could lead a monster in to them." Karol piped up. "It's something Nan mentioned once as a way to distract other monsters. All we need is something strong enough that will keep them busy while we sneak in."

"Great idea, Karol." Yuri ruffled the boy's hair affectionately and turned back to the desert. "How about one of those?" He pointed out to a huge cactus monster lumbering in the distance.

"A Green Spider? That should work great."

"Okay. Repede, Judy and I will herd it this way. Everyone else wait here and get ready to lure it into the cave when we get close enough." Yuri took a running start. Repede sprinted ahead of him, barking at him to keep up, and Judith came up alongside of him although he was pretty sure that with her speed, she could have surpassed him. She just liked playing with him.

They came upon the Green Spider quickly and Repede sprung into action first, nipping at its legs. It responded the way he had intended and simultaneously tried to put distance between them and attack. He led it between Judith and Yuri and they flanked it on either side, feigning strikes at it to keep it moving forward. Once they got the huge cactus-insect hybrid moving toward the cave, it was rather fast. Everyone else moved to allow it plenty of room and as soon as it got near the cave entrance, they circled it, driving it forward into the cavern mouth. Its anger had been building and forcing it to topple into the cave had been the last straw. It reared, crashing toward the assembled and clueless knight and mages. The panic it caused was exactly what they were looking for.

They snuck in through the chaos that ensued and Rita set to work on the two detonators that sat unattended on the side of the cave. She opened the display glyphs and within seconds, they were both disarmed. Rather than leave them as they were, she took one whole, and grabbed the core from the second one so that it couldn't be set again.

The cover allowed them to remain unseen as they passed into the main set of cavern pathways. They wound back through the cave system, Rita disarming the detonators and taking their cores as they continued. Yuri knew, though, that this would likely not stop them, only delay them. But what was the purpose of sealing off this cave? Other than the strange village they had found in the desert, the cave led to nothing now that Mantaic was gone. Or was that the purpose here? To hide the barren and scorched ruins of a town that had been there less than a year before? The possibility sent a chill through his bones and left a foul taste in his mouth. If they were hiding it, they had most likely caused it. Why else would someone take such measures just to seal off a cave that led to nothing? And if they had made it this far, what was the state of Nordopolica?

They paused briefly at the aer krene for Rita to make a very quick examination and take a few samples of the water, plant life, and rocks. He hated to drag her away from her work, but with Knights surely lurking further in the cave and the possibility of Nordopolica being overrun with them, they needed to make haste. The dragon that had been here still perplexed him, and it had been in the desert, too. He was certain that the voice he had heard in that moment hadn't simply his mind playing tricks on him due to the heat, fatigue and general feeling of helplessness.

"Did you get what you needed, Rita?"

"Yeah. This should be enough for the purpose of my research." She tucked the samples carefully into her travel pack and shouldered it with Estelle's help.

"Good. Let's get out of here before we get caught." Apprehensiveness clung to his every nerve. They could not get to Nordopolica soon enough. It wasn't even about getting there before the new moon anymore. Getting there before the Knights could do something stupid or earth shattering was more important, especially if Garista was the one there issuing orders.

They rounded out of the corridors and into the first cavern and he could see the exit that would put them back on the road that ran the length of the Zadrack Peninsula and back to Nordopolica.

"Halt! Intruders!"

Karol and Flynn skidded to a stop first, Rita and Estelle stopping steps behind them, to look back to a small cluster of knights barreling at them from the desert side. Yuri grabbed Karol by the collar of his shirt, pushing him forward as he swung himself back, sword drawn to fight the oncoming enemies. They were so close to the exit, only yards away, but from the looks of it, standing their ground to fight seemed to be the only way. The hurried march of boots reinforced his sense of urgency as knights coming in from the peninsula side of the pass started to flood in. He heard the scrape of Flynn's sword against his scabbard as he drew it and wondered for half a second if he was still hesitant to fight his own.

"Attention!"

Every knight stopped short, scrambling to lower their weapons and salute in the manner to which they were accustomed. Before Yuri could make the best of this opening, Raven grabbed him and Flynn, spinning them both around. As easy as that, they were allowed to simply dash through the collected knights who stood like statues, awaiting orders.

They didn't stop outside the Weasand of Cados, but continued their pace down the road for as long as they could before staggering to stop in a patch of trees off the main road to catch their breath and get their bearings.

"Hey, Old Man--"

"Did ya see that? Those idiots thrown off as easy as that?" Raven had started laughing, so hard that he was holding his sides and slapping his knee with one hand and fighting to breathe.

Yuri couldn't help but chuckle a little, too. The Knights were characteristically dunces and strict rule followers, but that was ridiculous.

"That was awesome, Raven! You almost sounded like a real knight captain!" Karol high fived the old man who was still fighting off laughter.

While they were celebrating their small victory, Rita had set to work on the detonator she had retrieved from the Weasand of Cados. Using the green display, she was analyzing its contents quietly until Estelle piped up with a question.

"I've never seen a core like this. What type is it?" She picked up one the of the purple orbs carefully in both her hands.

"It's a hoplon blastia core. The formulas they're inscribed with are unique but not indecipherable." She tugged on a bit of her brown hair while she stared at the control glyph, her brow furrowed. "The formula these use allow for a greater aer conductance and convert the aer in a more practical and direct manner than much of the blastia I've ever worked with. In doing so, it requires a greater amount of aer to activate and uses it more efficiently. It's actually pretty remarkable."

Yuri didn't have to guess who had created them. The emblem on the device gave it away, but he still raised the point. "Let me guess. It's a product of Garista Luodor's?"

She looked up at him in surprise that faded after a moment. "Yes. But something about these has me stumped."

"What's that?"

"It's not like he converted a regular core to a hoplon core. Something about this is different."

"Could he have created it?" Judith asked, bending over Rita's shoulder to look at the control panel as well.

"That's impossible! You can't just _create_ blastia cores. They have to be unearthed from Krityan sites. And a hack like Garista just isn't capable of something like this on his own. Just whose research did he steal in order to do something like this?"

"That is an interesting question, indeed." Judith stood back up straight, her eyes still scanning the display.

"Well, we should make camp for the night and get an early start. We're not too far from Nordopolica now, but it'll be too dark to travel soon." Yuri started unpacking his camping gear. Dinner had to be made and his stomach was to the point where it was going to start complaining at him.

"You're right." Estelle looked up to the ever waning moon. "We'll be meeting with Belius tomorrow night.

He didn't want to stop, but the party needed to rest after their trek across the desert and the flight from the Weasand of Cados. He wanted to rush off to Nordopolica, but he held himself back. The knights were likely already there.


	37. Chapter 37

They rose and packed camp quickly. Yuri seemed restless once more, his eyes staring at the horizon instead of the skies. He seemed like he was in a hurry, more than once having to double back in their hike from where he had gotten so far ahead of everyone else. Yes, they had a deadline, but he seemed especially eager to get to Nordopolica, and Flynn feared that he knew why. If knights had made it as far as the Weasand of Cados, they were surely in the Coliseum City.

As they neared the city at sundown, their suspicions were confirmed. There were a group of white and tan tents and glowing lights that marked an Imperial encampment and as they entered the city, knights were everywhere, as if the city had been seized in martial law. But why Nordopolica? Palestralle had been a neutral third party in the war and even with its Duce being old friends with the Don of Dahngrest, they had given no aid either way. Was the Empire planning to stop them before they could?

Even with all they had been through to this point, it was hard for Flynn to think that these people were those that he had once served with, people he had called his comrades in the protection of their glorious Empire. Now they were the enemy, even if unwittingly. He had once viewed the knights as chivalrous and noble, but those things were slipping away from him now. He had to maintain that the knights were merely being used by Alexei, still caught up in his charisma and seemingly good intentions.

"What? Why are the knights here?"

"I have a feeling it has something to do with Belius." Yuri's eyes narrowed and he peeked around the corner of a building to an adjoining alley. "If we keep to the back streets, we should be able to keep clear of them. Let's get up to the Coliseum fast." With a motion of his head, he ushered them forward and down the street. He must have known that even here, across the world, they could be seen as wanted and caught. The knights would not hesitate to try and kill Yuri if they knew who he was, a wanted guild spy with a missing princess in his custody.

They found a long back alley that was unguarded and followed it through the winding paths of the market and to the main thoroughfare. They managed to avoid the knights patrolling the streets and make their way to the highest platform of the stone city. The doors of the Coliseum were guarded by two men wearing the emblems of Palestralle, which came as no surprise. Getting through them would be no problem, but the circumstances turned against their favor. A group of knights, led by a Royal Guard, came marching up the steps, weapons at the ready. An altercation began.

"Let us through, by order of Commandant Alexei Dinoia of the Imperial Knights. We are here to see Belius." The commanding officer spoke with a tone of voice that told Flynn what they were really there for, and it wasn't negotiating.

"The Empire has no power here. Withdraw from our city at once or suffer the consequences." The two Palestralle guards stood their ground against the formation.

"You leave us no choice." The Royal Guard raised his arm straight into the air and the mages in the back of the group let off two bright white, crackling flares into the skies. "Congratulations. You've doomed your city and yourselves."

"If you think we'll just surrender--"

A great rumbling shook the city and until he saw a shadow block out the last remaining light of the sun on the horizon, Flynn believed it to be an earthquake. This was far worse.

"T-The Heracles!"

A glowing light formed off its bow. From experience, he knew what it was and feared what it meant. The knights pulled back and allowed the following blast of light to rip through the Coliseum. Marble cracked and shattered, scorched shards falling into the sea from the hole burned through the walls by the force of the hit. They crouched in the alley with the quaking of the earth, covering their heads to try and protect themselves from the falling rubble of the buildings surrounding them that had also been caught in the strike. As Flynn raised his head, he could see the knights storm the building, cutting down quickly and easily the pair of staggering guards as if they were nothing.

This wasn't fair. This wasn't chivalry. This wasn't just. This was unmistakably an act of war, of cruelty. This was not the Empire he knew.

As soon as Estellise could stand, she pulled away from the them to check on the two very obviously deceased soldiers. Yuri rushed in right behind her to pull her away.

"There's no helping them now. Let's get inside. They're after Belius."

"But--"

"We have to do what we can for those who still have a chance. Save everyone who can be saved."

She dried her eyes quickly and grew determined. "You're right. Let's go."

Pressing forward, they followed as quickly as they could behind the knights through the debris filled halls. The cries of the injured echoed all around them. Estellise healed as quickly as she could while trying to keep up, but there were still those who were far beyond her help.

The devastation of the unwarranted attack weighed heavily on Flynn. What could Nordopolica have done to deserve this? The nation that he had believed in had so quickly turned to such terrifying tactics as this, even during a war, and then had used them with sickening zeal. He wanted to believe that it was simply Alexei, but something about this was rooted far deeper. Had not a single soldier been questioning these dubious orders, and if it had been Flynn in this position, would he have questioned them? Was it fear that had been instilled in them that kept them quiet or had they been swept up in Alexei's mad crusade? If they were this far gone, was there any hope of stopping them?

They made it to the tournament hall, and the destruction there was thankfully minimal. The knights had flown up the stairs and were locked in battle with Natz when they arrived.

Natz swung his mighty sword, knocking a few of them down the marble stairs. Others rushed him and in the back of the melee, mages were casting in an attempt to immobilize him. Rita responded with a new spell and shadows of black and purple leeched out of the ground and drug away the casters before they could complete their incantations. Yuri, Repede, and Karol surged forward to the clump of knights, taking out the ones in back as Natz threw two more into the wooden door. Flynn and Judith followed up, attacking those who had recovered from the other attacks. Through the shouts of attack artes, he heard the telltale sound of Estellise healing and moving back into the fray.

The last knight was sent kidding down the stairs and into the far door, and Natz prepared to turn his sword on them.

"Hold on, now..." Raven started.

"Pardon." He lowered his blade, breathing a sigh of relief. "You are the emissaries from Don Whitehorse, correct?"

"That's us." Yuri sheathed his sword.

Estellise wasted no time in healing the man's wounds and he thanked her for it. "I know that now is not a good time but..."

The moment of silence had only been a calm in the storm as more knights burst through the door, barreling over the bodies of their fallen and swarming the hall like a myriad of angry insects.

"Go to Lady Belius! I'll hold them off here as long as I can!"

"Thanks." Yuri pulled the door open and motioned to the rest of the party to head up the stairs. He paused in following them, putting his hand on Natz's shoulder. "Don't go getting yourself killed."

"I live to protect the Duce. My death here would be honorable. Now go."

As soon as they made it through the door and closed it, Flynn could hear that the battle had commenced, with Natz's broad back braced against the door to protect the entryway.

"Let's keep going."

Up the long stairway they flew, the din of the fight below them fading. The blast had done its damage here as well, a huge, semicircle chunk missing out of the portions of the walls and stairs. At the top of the steps was a large, wooden door, bearing the emblem of Palestralle, a flaming shield with swords crossed over it.

"This must be the place."

 _Enter, Emissaries of Don Whitehorse_.

The voice that pierced Flynn's mind could be likened to a thousand rushing rivers, to the lapse of the ocean against the shore, strong, calm, and steady.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who 'eard that," Raven said, digging in his ear with his pinky.

"You're not." Yuri placed a hand on the door and pushed it open.

They all passed into the darkened room and the door slammed shut behind them. Two bright blue flickers caused the darkness to recede and two tall candelabras lit before them, revealing something that he had just begun to suspect. The presence surprised them regardless.

The creature that stood before them was huge, long, four legged hind end, sitting a head over the largest war horses and an almost humanoid form sprouting from the front. Atop the form was a fox like head with intelligent eyes of deep ocean blue that stared right through them and four long, furred tendrils that trailed from the back of its head. The creature was covered in golden-white fur save its long black arms that ended in clawed, four fingered hands.

"So you're Belius." Yuri was the first to speak, his shock wearing off fast. He must have suspected also.

 _I am Belius, the Duce of Nordopolica. Welcome, emissaries of my long time friend, Don Whitehorse._ The voice was the same, but was heard by their ears instead.

"You... You're an Entelexeia," Estellise said.

_That is correct, child. Regrettably, we have little time with the attack on my city. Why have you come here?_

Yuri pulled an envelope out of his vest and extended it out to her. She took it and opened it easily. Her eyes scanned over it a moment before she folded it up and set it down beside her.

_I see. The tide of war seems to be turning in the Empire's favor._ Her brow furrowed slightly and her soul searing eyes glared at them in a sudden and surprising anger. _And although my dear friend sends this plea for help, with the party to deliver it, he sends an insidious poison._

"W-What?" Estellise stuttered, taking a step forward. "But that... that is what Phaeroh called me."

_It is only natural that my brother would say such a thing in your presence, Child of the Full Moon. Why have you come here?_

Her voice was lost and she fumbled nervously with the blastia on her wrist. Flynn stepped up to answer her question as it was his request as well. "We have come to ask for your aid and the aid of Palestralle. We do understand that the circumstances right now are less than ideal, but Alexei is surely behind this attack on Nordopolica and the advancement of the war."

 

 _There is no time for this._ Belius rose from her sitting position. Her tall ears perked and her whiskers twitched just as Repede started to growl.

Behind them, the door creaked and splintered, blown back away down the hall and a huge man with wavy red hair and a cleaver of a sword as tall as himself stood there. He strode in with ease and confidence. His broad face was grim and scarred, and his brown eyes looked right past them and directly to Belius.

Flynn drew his sword as the man swung his, his own blade stopping the other. There was a heavy weight, anger and strength in those corded muscles, and the attack bore down against him.

"Out of my way, fool. I'm here for the monster."

"The Hunting Blades." Yuri came up beside him, sword also at the ready. "Get out of here, Clint. We're here on official Union business."

"I don't care if you are Don Whitehorse's other grandson. If you stand between me and that monster, I'll be forced to consider you one of them."

Flynn saw Yuri's eyes narrow slightly and he raised his blade.

A crash echoed up from the Coliseum floor below, drawing their attention away. The building shook with a thunderous rage and battle cries rose up.

Belius lunged forward, knocking aside Yuri and Flynn and grabbing Clint. _If he wants a fight, I can handle a single mortal. Go. Help Natz._

"Bring it on, monster!" He swung his cleaver and she caught the blade in her other hand before he could land a single strike.

"Let's get back downstairs. I've got a bad feeling about this," Yuri said.

They exited the room as the intensity of the fight between Belius and the hunter continued and they made their way swiftly down the stairs.

"Yuri, who was that?" Estellise asked.

"That was Clint, the leader of the Hunting Blades, a powerful monster hunting guild."

"Why is he here attacking Belius?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't like it." With his shoulder, he shoved open the doorway that Natz had been guarding only to find that the battle had spilled out onto the Coliseum floor and men and women dressed in monster hides had joined the fray against the monsters that had poured in from the broken reverse barrier. It was chaos. Palestralle soldiers were fighting back both knights and monster, but also the members of the Hunting Blades.

"If the Hunting Blades are here that must mean that -- Nan!" Karol called out, ducking.

A huge boomerang blade spun by them, taking out one of the monsters and was caught on its return. The brunette girl who caught it easily, spun it around herself, holding it at her waist. She looked at Karol in surprise and opened her mouth to speak, but a man in a green hood behind her got her attention and she ran off.

"What the hell are they thinking?!" Yuri pressed forward, taking out a knight and then another as he moved. The others followed, lending their unique skills wherever they worked best. They found Natz moments later, caught in the middle of the fray, standing against knights and the hooded man.

Repede rushed in first, taking one of the knights out with his knife, and giving Yuri an opening to attack and let the party in. Estellise went to his side quickly, casting again.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you. How is the Duce?"

"She's fighting the leader of these idiots!" Yuri felled another of the knights before clashing with the hooded man who struck out with bare fists and nothing else.

"Tison!" A blond young man with a red tattoo stretching across the bridge of his nose jogged up, grabbing the hooded man. Flynn felt he looked familiar, but couldn't place him. "Yuri and Raven are allies. Let them be."

"Harry?!" Yuri knew him, although he didn't seem at all pleased to see him. He gritted his teeth angrily, barely managing a voice between them. "What the hell are you doing here? And with them?"

The blond seemed astonished by this and Raven came in from behind to grab Harry and pull him away without another word before Yuri could continue the interrogation.

Several stories above them, a rumble and a crash brought Belius and Clint through marble wall, each fighting the other with all the ferocity expected of those fighting for their own survival. They landed with a crash on the Coliseum floor and with a final swipe, Belius knocked Clint away and into a pile of rubble. She was breathing hard, her chest heaving and under her left arm, a large wound from which dark bubbles of aer, not blood, floated.

Her sudden appearance had sent knights and hunters scattering, and with their leader down, the hunters Tison and Nan had pulled back to aid him.

Flynn lost sight of Yuri for the barest second and he followed Estellise forward to protect Belius. He heard a call for the knights to fall back. They must have been at a disadvantage between fighting the Palestralle, Hunting Blades, and the party. The rest of the party fought off the stragglers as they came to protectively surround the Duce.

The battle lulled as groups retreated or became too injured to fight, and they were allowed a moment to speak with Belius again.

_Thank you for your assistance in the defense of my city and myself._

"No big deal." Yuri had found his way back, dragging the blond young man behind him. His movement were tensed slightly and his steps heavy as he moved. Even though his features were calm, the way he shoved the young man to Raven to deal with made his anger clear to Flynn.

"Oh no, Belius! You're injured!"

She slid a clawed hand over the wound to hide it. _It's nothing grievous._

"Let me heal you." Estellise dashed forward, ever concerned for the well being of others over her own. She started to glow, a soft green and gold aura surrounding her as the glyphs of light started to form arcs around her.

"Estelle, wait!" Judith tried to catch her by the arm, but as the glow increased, it was too late to stop her.

The aura seeped through the air toward Belius, its bright and vivid hue muting and turning black as the arcs of light of the healing spell surrounded the Entelexeia. She shook and screeched as the light turned to black flames across her body. She flailed, frantic, trying to wipe the flames away with her hands, but they overtook her in a split second. Her lips curled back in a snarl, bearing long white fangs and the blue of her eyes faded into blackness.

"No..." Estellise staggered a step back, covering her mouth with her hands. Tears filled her eyes as she stared up at Belius. "I... I was just trying to help.... I'm so sorry...."

 _Please... mortals. End my suffering now... before I lose myself completely_.

Yuri drew his sword, and Estellise grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Yuri, no!"

_Estellise, Child of the Full Moon... you bear kindness and compassion far beyond most. Keep that... in your heart always, and I am certain that my brother Phaeroh... may too see what I have seen. Born a poison unto this world... if you never let go of your kind heart... there may be hope yet...._

'I-I don't understand...."

 _With time, all things will be clear. Now hurry._ Her limbs tensed and flinched seemingly against her will, but she tried to hold firm. _Let me live my last moment... knowing who I am._

"I'm sorry it has to end this way." Yuri raised his sword.

_I as well. But in this world... it is kill or be killed._

"Yuri!"

"This is what she wants, Estelle." His eyes were hidden as he said that and Flynn couldn't even imagine the depth of what the guildsman was feeling in this moment. He wasn't hesitating, but neither was he eager for this. His voice cracked, but he suppressed it. "The least we can do is end her suffering. We can't hold back."

Slowly and reluctantly, the party all drew up their weapons, Estellise last of all. The burden of this on her was surely suffocating. She pushed forward, her pace a step slower, the swing of her blade and word of her cast weakened and saddened. She still pressed herself on, following through in the example of the other members of the party, none of whom had wanted to do Belius harm, but all of whom understood her wishes.

The black flames grew brighter and hotter, and Belius yowled, losing control of her body. She swung at them, snarling with one breath and urging their hands on with the other. She returned their attacks nearly blow for blow, scattering them across the battlefield. Yuri was relentless in his attack, aggressively swinging and slicing, firing off arte after arte. Flynn tried to keep up, flanking Belius where there was less chance of getting attacked and more room to do serious damage.

Although large, Belius was fast and as soon as she found Flynn trying to get in a series of attacks, she spun, knocking Yuri into Judith and descending on Flynn in a flurry. He dodged her hands as they swiped at him, claws sharp enough to rip into the metal of his shield as he tried to block her and get in a thrust attack.

She gave him no openings in her fury, but instead of trying to attack, Flynn drew her attention long enough for Yuri and Judith to recover from staggering and get back into the brawl. With Karol moving in on the action, the four of them managed to trap her in between them, sending volleys of attacks whenever she tried to turn her rage one way or another.

They kept hacking away at her, firing off artes and spells. It had seemed as though they were doing little to no damage for a long while, but their persistence paid off. As their attacks appeared to do more, she resorted to more frenzied and relentless assaults. A swipe of her paws would knock several of them away, sending them scrambling to recover as she turned on the remaining party. Even long range attacks were no security. With her massive size, she could reach most of the way across the Coliseum floor and even a speedy distance attacker like Raven had been able to keep away from her for long.

Yuri focused on her midsection, dodging furiously swinging limbs as they came at him. Each of his strikes did a little more to slow her, to take her down a little faster. Flynn tried to do the same as the strategy seemed to be working, and the others followed suit.

She staggered with each blow, and finally, she collapsed, the weight of her body sending a spray of dust up off the stone. As it settled, Flynn could see the black flames that had covered her, that had been driving her with madness, flicker and extinguish. They were left standing around, waiting for another possible round of attacks, everyone breathing heavily and watching closely. Belius did not stand. She could not.

 _Natz...._ She stammered, lifting her golden head slightly to look at the man as he approached their position.

"Lady Belius...."

 _Do not hold a grudge against these people. I knew that this day would come_. Her body had begun to break apart with the disappearance of the flames and bits of her floated away in bursts of green aer, dissolving into nothingness.

Estellise couldn't watch. She turned and pressed against Yuri, who wrapped one arm across her back to hold her as she cried into his shoulder. There was something in his eyes that Flynn couldn't place, something strange and different from the cold and stony face he wore. What was he hiding here?

They all watched in quiet reverence as she disappeared, leaving in her wake a large blue-green crystal that floated down into Yuri's hand.

 _Give this, my cyano ciel crystal, to my old friend Don Whitehorse. Thank you...._ Her voice of water trailed off and disappeared with the aer that her body had been composed of.

"I...I'm so sorry," Estellise sobbed, pulling away from Yuri and taking the apathetia in both her hands. She cradled it against her bosom, her knees collapsing underneath of her. "I never meant to hurt you...."

"We should get out of here before the knights come back." Even Rita had been affected by the scene they had just witnessed, and wiped the corner of her eye.

"Come on, Lady Estellise." Flynn hooked a hand under her arm and knelt. He wanted to give her a chance to recover and mourn, but Rita was right. The knights or the Hunting Blades could return at any moment, and with the state of things here, Palestralle was on the verge of destruction. But there was nothing more they could do save return to Dahngrest and explain the situation to the Don.

She wretched her arm away from him roughly, curling into herself. "Just leave me here. I'm no good to anyone. I really am a poison...."

"Yuri, what are you doing?" Karol asked and Flynn turned his head just in time to witness the collective shock of the group as Yuri raised his sword and slid the blade across his forearm, cutting himself deep enough to sever veins.

He dropped his arm to his side, his face not showing a single trace of pain as blood gushed from the wound in a wave of red down his arm.

She looked up, her green eyes still red with tears, and was just as shocked by the display as everyone else had been. She was on her feet in a hurry, instinct pushing her as she grabbed his injured arm and began casting. As the light of her power touched the wound, the flesh began to knit itself neatly back together, leaving a dark, shiny scar where it had once been.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"See? You're not a poison."

She stared at him in silent shock for a moment before wiping her eyes. "Thank you."

"Sir Natz!" A Palestralle soldier burst in through the ruined Coliseum door and fought his way past piles of rubble to get to them.

"What is it?" Natz took a ragged breath, holding back tears of his own as he turned.

"The Imperial Knights are swarming the city! They have the harbor blockaded and are demanding our immediate surrender."

The determination on Natz's face showed that he had no intention of surrendering, even with the Duce of Nordopolica gone. "Rally the others. We will drive the Imperial scum from our city if it costs us our lives." He turned to them as the soldier ran off. "Please leave this place."

"Wait, let us help you," Estellise said.

"This is Palestralle's fight. Go back to Dahngrest."

They didn't argue further, and instead fled the hollowed ruins of the Coliseum. The streets of Nordopolica were packed with Imperial Knights, and they were forced to fight immediately.

They cut through the knights, dashing as quickly down the streets at they could manage. Side roads and back alleys were far from a useful strategy now, and although they had just expended so much strength in defeating Belius, their fight was far from over.

The battle ridden road let them finally to the docks, where the Heracles was casting its dark shadow over the ships bobbing at the piers. Imperial war ships were closing in on the harbor quickly, but that didn't deter Yuri from jumping on deck, shouting at Tokunaga to get the anchor up. As soon as the others were on deck, he was issuing orders to them as well.

"Flynn, get the rigging. Karol, Estelle, man the rudder. Rita, get the engine running, full blast. Raven, Judy, keep 'em off of us." He took over getting the anchor out of the water and let Tokunaga take the helm.

"What about me?" the blond young man who had been drug along behind them asked.

"Stay out of the way!"

As soon as the anchor was up and the engine roaring to life beneath Rita's care, Yuri was scrambling to get the sail open. The Fiertia sputtered and skipped across the waves as the makeshift crew got the ship turned and moving toward the open ocean.

Flynn's hands quickly became scraped raw from the rough rope while tugging and tying in accordance with the ship's movements, but he didn't stop. He pushed back the fatigue lingering in his head and his extremities. They still had to make it out of the harbor before they could rest. The light on top of the Heracles that was flickering warned them that they wouldn't have long to do it. If the canon was preparing to fire and they were still in the mostly blocked off harbor, they would be easy targets.

The Fiertia swerved, narrowly avoiding two warships that threatened to crash into it, and skipped past them to a small space between the Heracles and another ship. Flynn found himself dashing across the ship endlessly, from bow to stern, lending his strength in wherever necessary, between helping with the helm or the rudder, adjusting the sails, or even aiding in the ship's defense. They had managed to barely scrape through the opening, nearly losing their mast in the process. Once past the barricade, they had clearer sailing, no obstacles to dodge, and used their small size and speed to their advantage to put as much distance between themselves and the occupied city of Nordopolica. Standard warships had a wide turn pattern and a slow speed, but he didn't want to wonder whether or not the Heracles was capable of catching up with them. They were lucky enough to get out of there before it had finished charging the canon.

When they were clear, and could no longer see Nordopolica and the Heracles in the distance, Yuri allowed Rita to drop the ceres blastia engine back to its normal speed. But even with safety, things were far from over.

Yuri seemed calm enough, but he was definitely not. Beneath his pale skin was fiery rage that he occasionally exhibited in small, controlled ways that only Flynn seemed to notice. He tried to smile, but it always felt halfhearted and the somberness of their voyage was holding everyone else back also. As soon as they were safely out of Nordopolica and away from any pursuing forces, he confronted the blond young man who he and Raven referred to as Harry.

"What were you doing in Nordopolica?"

"Who is this idiot anyway?" Rita asked, sitting on the deck and letting Estellise nap leaning against her.

Raven seemed more exasperated than angry with the whole ordeal. "This idiot here is Harry."

"He's Gramps's real grandson."

"Yuri, I can explain...."

"Well, you better start. Gramps isn't going to be real happy when he finds out what happened."

"I received word that Grandfather's friend was in danger, that she was captured by monsters. So I hired the Hunting Blades to go with me to help take care of things."

Yuri passed a hand down his face in frustration, sighing before he asked. "Who was your source?"

"Regaey of Ruin's Gate, so I believed the information to be reliable." Harry would have had no reason to not believe the leader of one of the five Master Guilds on a matter so grave, but he didn't know about what Regaey had done in Nordopolica, and that 'Regaey' had seemed to be merely a disguise.

Yuri spun on his heel and started straight for the cabin.

"Yuri, wait--!"

"Leave him be, Harry." Raven stopped the young man with a hand on his shoulder and after a second of fretting, Harry took a seat once more.

"It... it wasn't supposed to turn out this way." He seemed as downtrodden as everyone else.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Flynn asked.

"Well, since this is a trouble between two guilds, and usually in cases like this, there's only one solution. It might just end up being an eye for an eye." Raven leaned back, looking up. "Either way, it won't be pretty."


	38. Chapter 38

"Dinner's almost ready." Yuri pulled the stew pot off the ship's modest stove top. Cooking had kept his mind off of everything going on around him for at least a little while. His temper had cooled a bit when he was allowed to think the events through without adrenaline and rage fueling him.

Harry had been stupid. There was no doubt about that. His actions had been, however, what he had believed to be the best at the time. He had no idea who Regaey turned out to be in actuality. He had every reason to trust the leader of one of the five Master Guilds. His judgment had been hasty and made in error, and had resulted in the death of their grandfather's friend, who had been the very person he had been trying to save. Despite the mitigating circumstances, Gramps wasn't going to be happy, and once they realized who was really at fault for the death of Belius, even though Harry had only been a puppet, the people of Nordopolica wouldn't be either.

Judith sat in the cabin with him, whetstone in hand, sharpening the blade of her spear. He dropped the pot on the table and went to fetch the bowls.

"Would you go tell everyone it's about time for dinner?"

"Sure thing. Don't worry about fixing anything for me, though. I'm not very hungry." This was the second time she had passed up dinner. She had been acting strangely since they had left Nordopolica and at first, he had assumed that she was merely distraught over the death of Belius and dealing with it in her own way by hiding it. But it was barely noticeable.

She left the cabin and he fixed bowls of Dahngrest-style curry for the others. He was ready to be home. Although there had been a hint of joy, having found Niren alive and well their first night in the Coliseum city, this journey had been uncomfortably enlightening, especially where Flynn had been involved.

He leaned up against the counter as soon as the table was set while waiting for the others. He was ready for this whole ordeal to be over, but in light of recent events, he had a feeling that it was far from done. There were too many unanswered questions and unresolved loose ends. Nothing he ever ended up getting involved in was easy.

He glanced of at his sword, standing stalwart in the corner and forced himself to look away from it. It was still his weapon of choice, and that hadn't changed in spite of the unsettling revelations it had brought him recently. He kept trying to assure himself that it was all merely coincidence, but he believed it a little less each time he told himself that. He had learned so much on this trip, some of which he'd rather not know.

A few moments passed with nothing save for dinner getting cold and Yuri muddling in his thoughts. The others should have been here for dinner by now, especially Karol, who had always come running when Yuri cooked.

Yuri pulled off his apron and strode to the cabin door, preparing to call everyone himself. What could have stopped Judith from doing what he had asked?

"W-wait! What are you doing?!" A cry from Rita sent him from a walk to a run to see what was going on.

"Judith!" Panic was clear in Estelle's tense voice.

A series of crashes, a blade resounding against machinery, a well trained, well aimed blade, thrusting through metal and wood and Rita shouting and casting forced him faster toward the engine. He turned to see Estelle pinned against the wall of the engine room, trapped in the shadow of Judith, her spear raised high, blade slick with oil and glinting in the bare lamplight. Her arms tensed as she raised them higher, shrugging off Rita who had latched onto one arm, trying to pull her away.

"Judy?!”

She flinched, but didn't turn to him. Her spear was still raised, still poised to strike and she moved to follow through. She was trained hard on Estelle and as the spear dropped, Yuri slammed into her, knocking her away and into a nearby barrel. The ruckus caused Flynn, Raven, Karol and Repede to come running from the bow of the ship.

Estelle scrambled to her feet, ducking out of the way.

"Judy, what the hell?" He took a step toward her as she was shaking off bits of the broken barrels and a tangle of rope. He reached for his sword, only to remember that it was still in the kitchen and far from his hands.

She flinched backward, eyes fixed down and red hot. After a second, she sprang forward, spear at the ready once more, prepared to run him through and he was unarmed. Yuri didn't dodge, instead grabbing the shaft as soon as it was in range. She was quick to try to rip it away, but he held firm. When it was clear that she couldn't shake him that way, she swung her leg and dropped her metal covered foot on the pole, shattering it in half and scattering wooden splinters into the flesh of his palms. She pulled backward, having broken free, and jumped onto the top of the cabin, where she stood for a moment, staring down at them.

He opened his mouth to question her, but a long, low warble resonated through the heavy tension in the air. In the distance, a blue-white, winged form was gliding through the air toward them. As it neared, he could see it was the dragon she had ridden in Caer Bocram and in Capua Nor.

"Wait!"

She didn't. As soon as the dragon was close enough, she jumped once more and vaulted onto its back. They circled the ship once, dodging Rita's fireballs and ignoring her shouting.

"You! You're that dragon freak! Get back here! I'm not done with you!"

Judith looked back at them one last time, her crimson eyes dark and sad, before flying away into the darkness of the night.

Dutiful knight Flynn was at Estelle's side in no time, checking to make sure that she was uninjured. It was a few long moments before she calmed down and was able to respond with as much calm as she could muster. "I-I'm okay, Flynn."

"But why would Judith attack you?" Karol asked, digging in his bag to get her a handkerchief to wipe her tear streaked face with. "Here."

"There's no telling," Yuri said, and gobbled down an apple gel that tasted like blood from where his splinter filled hands had touched it. He suspected it could have had something to do with Belius's death, or even Estelle's power, but that was currently not something he could confirm.

"And she destroyed the Ceres blastia!" Rita was, of course, ever concerned with the object of her research.

"Aren't you worried about Estelle at all?" Karol asked, his concern for the princess obvious.

Rita flushed bright red and swatted at him. "O-Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Thank you, Rita, Karol." Estelle smiled, but it was uneasy at best, and that sent the mage a shade brighter.

He sighed. This was not the way he had wanted to end an already strenuous journey. "Well, dinner's cold by now. We should go ahead and eat, and then we'll try to get the engine working again." Not that he was particularly hungry anymore, but it would serve to calm everyone down to make the rest of the trip home less terrible.

Estelle stood and took a deep, calming breath, and tried to put a smile on her worried and confused face. "Thank you, Yuri. If you hadn't intervened then--"

"Don't worry about it." He turned back toward the cabin and ran a hand through his hair and winced quietly a second later, having forgotten about his hands. A few splinters would have been no big deal, but his palms and fingers were full of them.

"Are you all right?" she stepped forward and touched his right hand, drawing spots of blood back on her gloves as soon as she flinched back, feeling the numerous shards of wood. “Oh my goodness!"

"What? Oh, these? Eh, they're nothing--"

She had started casting First Aid on him before he even knew it, and after a moment, the splinters were gone and his hands healed.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing."

Dinner did indeed bring a calm back over the ship and everyone prepared for bed.

"Welp, since two of our ladies have jumped ship, looks like Ol' Raven gets a proper bed tonight." The old man stretched and chuckled a bit.

"Not a chance, you old perv! The cabin remains ladies only!"

"Wait, what about me?"

"Oh, yeah. Karol, too, I guess," Rita said that begrudgingly.

"Aw come on, between the sea, the desert, and the sea, this old man's only had one night in a real bed."

"Forget it! Now get out!"

Raven tucked his hands behind his head and sulked away out of the cabin. Flynn and Yuri prepared to clear out, having cleaned up the dinner mess. Estelle was still shaken, as much as she was trying to hide it, and even as she sat down on one of the cabin's built in beds, it was obvious. She fumbled with the blanket and her boots as she set them on the floor.

"Everything okay, Estelle?" Yuri asked, making sure to take his sword with him when he left this time.

"Oh, yes. Everything's fine."

Rita must have seen it too. "If you're nervous about sleeping alone, you... you can sleep with me, or whatever."

"Really, Rita?"

"Yeah. It's fine. I don't mind." Her voice cracked slightly and her face was still red as she kept her eyes off of the princess.

"Thank you."

* * *

 

The rest of the return voyage had been thankfully quiet. Harry did his best to avoid Yuri, even with the small size of their ship. Yuri was still angry with his adopted brother, but decided early on that it was up to the Don to dole out punishment as he saw fit. Yuri had tried to remain calm and in control while everyone else was reeling from Belius's death and Judith's sudden attack on Estelle. He had half expected Flynn to confront him about that because Judith and Yuri had been acquaintances for over a year now, but Flynn never did. Yuri hadn't been sure whether or not he should feel relieved by that.

The look in her eyes then had been strange, a deep sadness like none he had seen before, and for whatever reason, she had hesitated, and had given Yuri a chance to stop her. He was still mad about her betrayal, but his interest in finding out why had been piqued. What sort of reason had there been for her to turn her spear against someone like Estelle, even if she blamed the girl for Belius's death? Even Belius had said that she held no blame against her, she had only been trying to be kind. Judith hadn't struck him as the kind to hold grudges like that. While he hadn't really known much about her, he had felt like he was at least a decent judge of character.

While neither of them said it, Yuri was sure that the fact that Belius's death had hurt their cause crossed the minds of Flynn and Estelle. Without Palestralle's backing, the Union might not agree to help in facing a superpower like the Empire. If that were the case, they would be firmly back at square one. The Don may have taken a liking to the two Imperial fugitives, but if the rest of the Union didn't back him up, his hands were tied.

He was grateful when they made port in Dahngrest. The quiet somberness still remained, but he was home and he could tell Karol was glad for it, too. Harry was less enthusiastic, but it was no secret why. Even the Don's grandson wouldn't get off easy for the chaos he had caused.

"What are we going to do now, Yuri?"

"The Old Man and I are going to take Harry to Union headquarters and explain the situation to Gramps. Why don't you all go get some rest back at my place? I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Can I come, too?"

"Sure, Karol. I'm not sure there's going to be a lot you can do, though."

"I still want to do everything I can to help."

He smiled and ruffled the boy's hair and looked back to Estelle, Flynn, and Rita. "You guys get some rest. We'll head back as soon as we can."

"What about the Cyano Ciel Crystal?" Estelle asked.

"Hold onto it for now. We'll deliver it to Gramps later."

They agreed, and walked tiredly into the city. Yuri and Repede led Raven, Harry, and Karol along paths that they had all long since traveled before through the city they called home and to the huge brick building that was the Union headquarters. Court adjourned as they entered, something that Yuri was glad for. He wanted to get this over and done with. Waiting was the worst part.

They were not the only ones waiting to speak with the Don. Two Palestralle soldiers, bearing the emblem of their city and guild, had arrived shortly after them, faces ashen and worn from the long journey here. Yuri didn't like the fact that they had arrived so soon. He had hoped to have some time for them to plan on how to handle this situations before they undoubtedly showed up, clamoring for vengeance.

"They got here quick," Raven muttered, leaning against the wall.

"I find it hard to believe how quick, in fact."

"Did the engine getting damaged put us that far behind?" Karol asked.

"Maybe." Yuri looked over to Harry, who had gone pale and was looking away. He swallowed hard and avoided Yuri's eyes on him. He was lucky that Palestralle hadn't caught him. They wouldn't have been so kind to the one who was largely responsible for the death of their leader.

As soon as the audience chamber was empty, Yuri was in, Harry following meekly behind him. Raven and Karol shut the twin doors and stood in front of them. The Don still sat in his chair, and looked at them with eyes wise and knowing.

"I was wonderin' when ya boys would be back." Yuri could tell from the tone of his voice that he had already heard through his own vast network of sources the events that had transpired in Nordopolica.  
"Grandfather..."

The Don silenced Harry with one stern hand. "I don't wanna hear excuses or grovelin'. Just tell me what happened. Stand up and claim responsibility for the things ya've done."

Harry took a ragged breath and tried to calm his shaking. There was so much pressure on him as the grandson of the Don to follow in his predecessor's footsteps. Such pressure could drive people to do stupid and reckless things, but that was no excuse. Facing the Don like this was frightening for anyone, especially one of the family. But he had to take responsibility for what he'd done, just as Yuri would have to one day.

 


	39. Chapter 39

Author's Notes: Sorry, I've been a bit slack again about posting. Also, watch as I completely butcher Yeager's accent once more!

* * *

 

It had been well over an hour since they had arrived in Dahngrest, and Flynn found himself drifting in and out of consciousness on Yuri's couch. Rita and Estellise were on the opposing one, also fighting off the threat of sleep.

The attack on Nordopolica still haunted him. What had been the purpose of the assault? Why had Belius been their target? It could have been a simple strategy of taking out the leader, but Flynn got the feeling it was something more than that. And why had the Imperial Knights been trying to seal off the Weasand of Cados? There had been nothing beyond that aside from a vast desert and that strange village of Yormgen. He hadn't let that weigh on his mind too long. There was already almost too much for him to bear.

The door opened finally, the creaking breaking the lingering, ringing silence in his ears and in came Yuri and Repede. He trudged in quietly and moved straight past them into his open kitchen.

Estellise stirred and stood, allowing Rita to continue her nap against the arm of the sofa. "Yuri, is everything all right?"

"For right now. Gramps is in conference with some members of Palestralle."

"What's going to happen?"

"I don't know. There are big consequences to the things that happened and they are trying to come to a consensus about what should be done." As he spoke, he set to work cooking, chopping up vegetables from his ice box and mixing them with some eggs and flour. Each movement of his knife was akin to his sword in battle, sharp and trained, quick and carefully planned. "How about some dinner? I'll make us some okonomiyaki." He wasn't really waiting for an answer from them. He lit the stove and prepped a pan with some oil.

Estellise had opened her mouth to speak, but lost her question as her stomach growled loud enough for them all to hear. She flushed. "Dinner sounds lovely."

He smiled a bit, and in short order, he was bustling about the kitchen, humming to himself as he moved between the counter and the stove top. He carefully monitored the food as it cooked, lost in his own world. The air in the room that had been tense calmed a little, even though a hardness still stood. While at this moment, everything seemed okay, Flynn and everyone there knew that things were not okay. They would have to enjoy it while it lasted, because it wouldn't for long. Forces were conspiring against them on more fronts than Flynn could have imagined, and he feared now that there were even more than they knew of.

It was only a little while longer before Yuri served up five plates of steaming, sauce topped okonomiyaki and they ate at his modest dinette. The calm stretched further, allowing a little room for pleasant conversation to ease their weary minds. The distraction was welcome.

Flynn was only allowed in the kitchen to help clean the few dishes that remained from the cooking and the meal. Yuri delivered the plates to the sink just as Flynn was filling it full of warm, soapy water.

A knock came at the door, and Estellise moved to open it.

Yuri didn't even have to turn to know who it was. "What do you want, Harry?" "Grandfather's gone."

Yuri sighed, setting down his plate. He was completely calm even hearing that and after a moment, he turned. He smirked, but Flynn felt it was empty. There was none of his usual fire and confidence behind it. "You'd think in his old age, he'd leave stuff like this up to me."

The panic ebbed slightly from Harry's face, but he was no less worried.

"I'll go find him. Get back to headquarters."

Raven turned, catching Harry by the collar. "You know where he's gone?"

"Only one place he could be."

"Yuri...."

Yuri knelt down in front of Karol, and with a tender hand on his shoulder, he nudged the boy toward Raven and Harry. "Karol, you mind staying here and keeping these two out of trouble?" He didn't show his sheltering hand and smile, but Flynn saw it anyway. He was preparing for this to get ugly. The tension in his limbs and movements seemed so clear now that he had witnessed the darker side of Yuri.

"I'll do my best."

"Thanks." Yuri caught up his sword and headed straight to the door.

"Wait, Yuri. I want to come with you." Estellise stood and a grumbling Rita behind her. Before he could argue, which he seemed ready to do, she continued. "Don Whitehorse has done so much to help us that I feel that its only right to help when we can."

"I agree," Flynn said, interjecting himself into the situation as well. It wasn't the only reason, though. With them along, Yuri was less likely to go into Enforcer mode and stain his hands further.

"Okay okay. You can come with me. But the Manor of the Wicked is no joke."

* * *

 

The trek hadn't been a long one, thankfully, and they arrived in the forest that surrounded their destination in the wee hours of the morning. This place was well protected, even the forest was full of trip wires and traps that they had to creep by or deactivate with Rita's help. The leader of this guild had reason to be a little paranoid.

"Where exactly are we going?" Rita huffed, pausing to catch her breath after their strenuous hike.

"The Manor of the Wicked."

"Why would the Don have gone there?" Estelle asked, wiping her brow and handing a handkerchief over to Rita.

"It's the headquarters of Leviathan's Claw and is where we can find the maker of this mess."

"You mean Regeay?"

"Well, yes. But in Leviathan's Claw, he's known as Yeager. He and Gramps are something of rivals. He's been doing pretty well for himself with the war and all, and if it was to become a massive three way, he would profit even more. It looks like he had fed Harry false info too for this plan." He had been suspecting Yeager's involvement for some time now, especially after Cumore's disappearance from Heliord. The benefits of working with Alexei and the Empire while backstabbing the Union and Palestralle could drive a man whose very nature was greed to do the unspeakable.

Over a hill, they came upon the large mansion, guarded by Red-Eyes. These would be the least of their worries. The two girls that stood arguing with the guards were much more formidable. Yuri and the others crouched low in the bushes and watched and listened.

"Get out of our way, you idiots!"

"Prove that you really are who you say you are!" There was a disrespectful sneer to the guard's voice.

The red haired girl growled audibly, and both drew their swords. "I won't tell you again to let us through. You are expendable."

"Tch. Whatever. Just stay out of the way. The Boss is meeting with Don Whitehorse."

"We know that, you dummy!" The green haired girl grabbed the guard and yanked him out of the way with amazing strength. He staggered, and they were allowed to pass into the manor.

He stood and sneered and cracked his neck before turning to one of the other guards. "What bitches."

"Yeah, who knows why the Boss keeps them around."

"I bet the two of them are beasts in bed. Who wouldn't want to bang a pair of hot twins?"

Their lewd chatter continued and Yuri took the opportunity to use the element of surprise. He drew his sword and sprung forward. They didn't even see him coming until it was too late. He took out one, sending his body rolling down the hill and into the brush where he had hidden only moments before, and moved in on the second one. He caught the second Red-Eye off guard as well, knocking him into the air and Rita's well placed fireball saw his end.

The fire in his veins didn't cool and urged him forward into the manor. There would be many more opponents in this nest of them.

Yuri couldn't say that he was surprised that the Don didn't leave this job for him. this was much more personal than even the mark against Barbos had been. If the Don had picked his sword up against someone, it was serious business. Yuri knew that it wasn't that the Don didn't trust him with this task. He had gone himself as the leader of the Union, to right the wrongs that had been perpetrated against Palestralle. His purpose was to cut out the cancerous parts to ensure the livelihood of the whole.

As they entered, there was no sneaking around. The path they forged was direct and for a while, surprise was on their side. In time, there was no doubt that the Red-Eyes knew they were there. They came in groups, two and three or more, from rooms off the halls they traversed, but each one was felled.

They moved up a staircase, past a smiling portrait of Yeager himself and as soon as their feet hit the upper platform, the two girls dropped down in front of them.

"Well, if it isn't Don Whitehorse's hound." The red head pointed her sword at Yuri.

"Sorry, but no one is to interrupt the meeting between Yeager and the Don." The green haired girl took a similar stance. "Do you think Yeager would mind if we played with them for a bit, Droite?"

"As long as we hold them here, Gauche, I don't think it matters."

The twins did a back flip and then a second, landing a few yards away from them. "Don't underestimate us just because we're female."

Yuri didn't care. If he had to fight them in order to progress, then so be it. He lunged forward, his blade catching Droite's as she tried to strike first. He pressed forward with all his might, knocking her down the hall. She sprung back quickly, and Gauche was in on the action a second later, slicing at him recklessly between acrobatic moves designed to distract him.

Flynn came up beside him, taking the defense as Droite rushed him, moving just as quickly and deadly as her sister. As soon as they paused for a split second, Yuri switched into the offensive, pushing her back down the hall and forcing her to defend herself. Flynn followed suit with Gauche, striking quickly to press her back. Rita's casting pushed them further until their backs were nearly pinned against the far door. Between two warriors, two casters, and a dog, they were overpowered, but they weren't ready to give up.

"Oh my." A voice came from inside the office. "It vould appear as zho your reinforcements haff arrived."

"Don't think I'm done with ya yet, Yeager."

"Oh no, off course not. I vouldn't dream off it. But parties are so much more fun with more guests, ja?" A clash of two steel weapons against each other resounded from within the room, a scrape of two blades followed. "Droite. Gauche."

"Yes sir?"

"Let our guests in, vould you?"

The look that passed between the two girls was less than pleased, but they lowered their blades and turned away from the party and to the door. Yuri watched closely for any sudden or suspicious movements. They reached for the large, ornate gold handles and slowly pulled the door open. A large office opened before them, richly furnished, host to a more pressing scene.

Caught in a hard locked parry were Yeager and Don Whitehorse, although neither seemed to exert as much energy as they surely had to be to keep the balance of power between them even. If either of them gave so much as a hairs width, the other would be on him swift and relentless.

"Whaddya kids doin' 'ere?"

"Figured we'd come give you a hand, Gramps." His blood was hot and fresh, burning tracks through his body.

"It's only right that we do whatever we can to help!" Estelle said. She pulled Belius's apatheia out of her pack, cradling it in her arm. “Belius asked us to deliver this to you.”

"How touching." Yeager smirked. "But oh my, it looks as zho you are a little late, ja?"

Dawn broke through the trees, spreading its yellow light across the sky and up the side of the manor. The Don swore and with all his might, shoved Yeager, sending the man tumbling back. He landed gracefully.

"I'll let you kids finish off things here. I gotta get back before those fools start a war."

"Gotcha, Gramps." Taking the apatheia from Estelle, Yuri suppressed a shiver that shot up his spine as the iciness finally overtook his veins. This had to end here, and it was his job to do it, whether or not he liked it. And he had never liked it.

Don Whitehorse caught the crystal as Yuri tossed it, and crashed through the glass window and onto the ground below.

Yeager was quick to turn his scythe against them, twirling it in one hand over his head. "Oh, how sad. I vas just starting to haff fun. Tis a pity, but certainly, za Hound of Dahngrest will keep me entertained."

How Yuri hated being called that, but he wasn't surprised that people like Yeager and Barbos knew him by a name like that. Several of their kind had met a sudden and violent end at Yuri's hands. "Maybe I'm a mongrel, but at least I'm sure of where my loyalties lie."

"Ja Ja, your loyalty to zat man is astounding. I know zat I have asked before, but allow me once more. Yuri Lowell, why don't you vork for me? Leviathan's Claw vill revard you beyond your wildest dreams."

"Same as last time, Yeager. The answer is no."

"Anozer disappointment, but alas, I think I'll manage." Yeager slid one foot forward, crouching, and then dashed at them, spinning the scythe and scattering them.

Rather than focusing on Yuri, who would have been the biggest threat, Yeager took the natural predator's path, and after sending Yuri staggering with the blunt end of his pole arm, he moved to focus on Estelle, the party's support. Even with her fighting training, and all the fights up till now, she was at a disadvantage against such swift and fierce brutality. She dodged as best she could until Flynn could come in to defend her, and Yuri took the opportunity to flank Yeager and try to keep him pinned between himself and Flynn while Rita shot spells of fire and ice.

That was all much easier said than done, because as soon as Yeager noticed that he was being cornered, he performed an acrobatic flip similar to the one Droite and Gauche had done, and he landed on his polished wooden desk top, scythe raised high like a snake prepared to strike.

"Vhat a pity. Vould you look at za time?! I, too, must make good my leave."

"I'm not done with you!" Yuri charged for him, but Yeager was faster, and landed on the windowsill in a flash.

"Oh, don't you vorry. I'm not finished vit you yet, either. Toodles." He fell backwards out of the window and by the time Yuri dashed to the ledge, he was gone.

Yuri took a deep breath and forced the air into his burning lungs. He turned to the others as they approached. He avoided eye contact. He had failed here. "Let's get back to Dahngrest. There's nothing left for us here."

%MCEPASTEBIN%


	40. Chapter 40

Yuri wasn't eager, but his pace was still quick. It was something different, something strange. It was almost desperation, and if Yuri was desperate after as calm as he had been up to this point while traveling, then something was wrong.

The streets of Dahngrest, quiet and barren, confirmed this. The market had not been neatly closed like it became late in the night, but the stalls had been haphazardly left without attendants, wares still splayed out for sale. The air was dense and heavy, warm like before a terrible storm. It was calm, but only on the surface, and the slightest sound threatened to tear that away like violent thunder.

"Yuri, what's going on here?" Estellise asked. "It seems so... strange."

He didn't answer, his charcoal eyes looking ever ahead, intense with the storm raging in his veins and the one that was so soon to erupt in the town he called home.

They found the people of Dahngrest gathered further through the market into the city square. Banners of Dahngrest and Nordopolica flew and it seemed as though a fight would break out any moment between the two factions.

Yuri pushed through the crowd ahead of them, and Estellise followed behind, apologizing on his behalf. They reached the center of the crowd amassed in the town square and found Don Whitehorse standing there before a group of Palestralle soldiers. Karol, Raven, and Harry stood to one side, each bearing a grim look, and as soon as Yuri made it to the front of the crowd, Karol and Raven moved to stand beside him. The events at the Manor of the Wicked in the pursuit of the true mastermind behind Belius's death had done little to lighten the mood or deter the course of action here.

"Don Whitehorse, we demand blood. Recompense for the death of Duce Belius."

"And you'll get it. The law of our guild requires that as the leader, I take responsibility for the actions of this young'un. Let my head atone for the death of Belius." He turned to the assembled, and dropped to settle on his heavy knees. From a sheath on his belt, he pulled a long knife with a slightly curved blade.

The citizens fell quiet instantly, eyes cast worried and knowing to their leader.

"Yuri... this can't be happening...." Karol pressed close to Yuri, one hand gripping the hem of Yuri's vest. Yuri in turn braced a hand against Karol's back, holding him close protectively.

"These guilds are all full of the same nut cases." Rita muttered from the back and she went to speak again, but was stunned into silence by the look of shock and horror that Estellise wore.

"Now. Who's gonna be my second?"

The city was deadly silent. None of these people could raise their blades against a man they followed and admired. No one could step forward, but Flynn did.

Law and Justice. This was not justice, but it was the law. The Don had not been responsible for Belius's death, and Harry had merely been a pawn. But the law said an eye for an eye, and the only thing that could satisfy the requirements of the death of a leader was the same. Justice would have been the punishment for the mastermind, Yeager. But as Flynn had learned, this world was not just. He wanted so badly to change that. This would be his first step.

"It would be my hon--"

Before he could finish, Yuri pulled him backward with a firm hand and the Don's surprised face faded into a crooked half smile. Yuri stepped forward, sword in hand.

"Yuri...." Flynn said and heard Karol mutter it beside him. Each said it with a different inflection. Flynn was witnessing Yuri turn his sword against the man who had adopted him, and Karol was seeing his hero, the man who raised him, turn his sword against a man they both admired, against the leader of their city. One was an act of honor, Yuri's show of respect for the Don, his grandfather. The other was something that couldn't be believed.

"Looks like you're stuck doing a job no one much wants."

"I owe you this much, Gramps."

"I'll save ya a spot in hell."

Yuri smiled, but it was empty. "I'll see you there."

"Listen up." Don Whitehorse lifted his head and spoke loud and clear to the assembled citizens. "Things are changing, and ya all better learn to stand on yer own two feet. You're gonna hafta take care of yerselves now."

He turned the dagger toward his body, the point nearly flush with his abdomen. Yuri stood behind the Don, his sword raised high. The darkness that clung to him when he raised his blade against Ragou and Cumore was nothing like this. This was rage, tension, and regret. His fingers quivered, but he tightened them against the handle of his sword. He had never hesitated before, in all the time Flynn had known him, and he wasn't hesitating now. He couldn't hold back. He merely waited for the moment.

That moment hung, long and tense, and then it was over in two flashes of blades.


	41. Chapter 41

It wasn't too long before the crowd dispersed, people in tears, singing dirges for the Don as they returned to their homes and businesses. The Union Guard came and took away the body on a stretcher, covered with the flag of the Union. After everyone else was gone, Yuri still stood there, in stony silence, his face hard and half hidden by his curtain of hair. He stared down at his sword and hand, both stained with dark red blood. It was a long time before he moved, steps heavy as if it was taking all of his strength to move, and he swept past them without a word and strode home.

"Yuri--!" Karol moved to follow him, but Raven stopped him with a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Let's leave the kid alone for a while." He was calm, but his face still bore a distinct shade of grieving in his own way. "You kids go get a room at the inn. I'll take Karol home."

Flynn, Estellise, and Rita did as Raven said, and checked into a room at the inn.Estellise cried for a long time, and found some solace in Rita's arms.Her tears dried a little as she and the mage drifted off to sleep, no doubt worn out from all that had happened in just the span of twenty-four hours. Flynn couldn't keep still long enough to relax. Even when he laid down, he merely tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, trying to sleep, but his wandering mind wouldn't let him. So he snuck quietly out of the inn and allowed his feet to wander as well.

He couldn't keep his mind off Yuri, who, in spite of his tough exterior, had to be taking this loss hard. Maybe he wouldn't say it or even show it, but it had to be hard on him.

Detached, he let his feet take him where they willed. The streets were quiet and empty, save for a few Union guards, and they paid him no mind. It wasn't long before he found himself standing in front of the darkened windows of the Sagittarius. Coming around the side of the building, descending the stairs from the upper level apartments nestled behind the bar, was Harry. His face was twisted in sadness and anger and he walked with an unsure step as he landed on the streets.

He stopped a step short, eyes darting directly to Flynn, who was the only other person in the street. "What do you want?"

"I was just taking a walk."

Harry scoffed. "Whatever. If you're on your way to see Yuri, he's only going to turn you away."

"Why would I--"

"You're one of his 'friends', right?" There was a bitterness to Harry's voice.

Flynn knew what Harry was insinuating, and although he was a little annoyed that this had been the second person to assume this, even he was too distressed to be angry. "No, and I didn't come here to see him." The thought of going to talk to him, though, seemed like a good idea.

"I don't understand why everyone likes him anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"You really don't get it? Everyone here in Dahngrest loves him. Even Grandfather... Even Grandfather trusted him like no one else. His claim to the succession might be even more legitimate than mine." Harry's features softened and his eyes watered slightly."An outsider like you wouldn't understand," he said with surprising venom, and then turned and disappeared into the dark streets of Dahngrest.

Flynn _was_ an outsider, and as such, he had no place here. And if Yuri had turned his own brother away at a time like this, Flynn was certain that he wouldn't receive any warmer a welcome. That didn't deter him from marching right up to Yuri's door. He did hesitate to knock though, a thousand doubts and questions and second thoughts filling up his brain. But he pushed past them and knocked anyway.

For a moment there was nothing, but finally from the interior of the apartment, the sounds of heavy footsteps.

The steps to the door started hurried, but slowed as they neared. They stopped at the door and he could hear a ragged breath. Slowly the door opened a crack, and he could see just the side and one eye of Yuri's face. The door opened a little wider, and Flynn was able to get a better look at him.

His dark hair was drenched from a shower, and his shirt disheveled from dressing hurriedly. The whites of his eyes were ringed in red, making the charcoal color of his irises seem that much darker and more intense.

He had been crying, and in that moment, Flynn could see something of Yuri he hadn't before. Before this moment, he had been something like a demon, dark and snarky, fierce and remorseless. Confidence and strength, and Flynn's own stupidity, had masked this part of Yuri. Right now, he was unmistakably human. He was kindhearted. Flynn had always known that and had seen it, and right now, in spite of how much Yuri might have been trying to hide it behind cool confidence, he was open and raw.

"Go away." Yuri didn't give him a chance to speak and started to close the door.

Flynn pressed his hand against the wood, pushing it open and letting himself in. Yuri immediately grabbed him and tried to push him back out.

"I said, go away! I don't feel like dealing with you right now." Rage must have been surging in his veins. Flynn could see the evidence of his anger littered in spots around his flat. One of his tattered sofas had been overturned, bits of porcelain were strewn across the wooden floor, and the crest of Dahngrest had been torn from the wall and ripped right in half.

"Yuri..." He looked him in the eyes and Yuri looked away.

"Leave me alone." The bare tremble in his voice was almost a plea.

Yuri had lost the person who had raised him, the person who had taught him everything, and in that moment, Flynn could relate. For a single second, they were the same, in spite of their pasts and burdens. Even strength and confidence could not overcome such sorrow. Flynn did the only thing he could think to do, and before Yuri realized it, he wrapped his arms around Yuri tightly.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Yuri tore away from him and shoved him back angrily. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

"I just want to help, Yuri."

"Now you want to help? Fuck you! The only thing you care about is getting help to save the Empire. You should be happy now! The leader of your great enemy, the Union, is dead! No matter what, you're still just a dog of the Empire!"

The words stung at him, and some of them rang true, but he didn't have it in him to fight someone who was so obviously baiting him into a brawl. Instead, he held his temper back and fixed the sofa. Anything to busy his hands.

After his challenge was so coldly received, the fight seemed to drain out of Yuri and he flopped down against the back of the sofa. "Just leave me alone."

It seemed so plain that he just didn't want to be seen this way, stricken low with rage and depression and so far from the confident and cool exterior he always showed others. How many people had seen this side of Yuri? He was certain that it had to be less than half a dozen.

Flynn sat down beside him and was honestly surprised when Yuri didn't attempt to start a fight again, or just move away. He fished for words to speak, for something to make the connection between them tangible, and he ended up blurting it out. "My father died a week before we met." It wasn't the same, but maybe a small connection like this would show Yuri that Flynn knew what he was going through, at least in a way.

"Finath Scifo, right?"

"Yeah."

"I knew him. Or at least I met him before the war started."

"You did?" The world seemed small suddenly, but not in a necessarily bad way. His father had done many tours of duty in his time in the Knights, and it was no surprise that he had landed in Dahngrest at least once.

"Yeah. He seemed like a good guy. He even taught me a couple of artes." He shifted and settled, bringing his knees up to his chest.

"Hm. Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"I didn't know it was your old man until Niren said something. I actually learned my Dragon Swarm arte from him, but I did modify it pretty heavily." Yuri leaned back, the top of his head flush with the back of the sofa as he stared up at the ceiling. "He and Niren are the only knights I ever came to respect."

Flynn wasn't sure what to say. He had come in hopes of consoling Yuri, but found that in trying to establish a connection, he was the one receiving consolation. He wanted to ask how Yuri felt, if he was okay, if he needed anything, but he couldn't find the words or bring himself to say them. Yuri probably would have been mad anyway if he asked them, so he kept quiet and hoped his presence would be enough. For a long time, the silence stretched out between them, heavy and awkward.

A knock came at the door and Flynn got up slowly and walked over to open it. It was Karan from the bakery.

"Oh, Flynn. Is Yuri in?"

"I'm here, Ms. Karan." Yuri stood and came over, calm as ever. It appeared for a moment like nothing had happened and nothing was wrong. "I'm sorry that Karol's rent is a little late. Here--"

She pressed a box forward gently, on top of which was a bouquet of white flowers. "I came to offer my condolences. I'm afraid it's not much compared to what you've done for us, but I hope it helps. And my son Shion and his friend picked these asters for you."

"I can't accept this."

"I insist."

After a second, he took the box and bouquet gently. "Thank you."

"Just let me know if you need anything."

For several hours more, he stayed with Yuri, and watched as the citizens of Dahngrest came and went, delivering condolences much the same as Karan, offerings of food, flowers and gifts. The traditions between Zaphias and Dahngrest weren't much different and Flynn remembered receiving such gifts from people of the Empire who respected his father, but he had accepted their help graciously. Yuri, on the other hand, tried each time to turn the people away, but they always insisted and he couldn't deny them. As the steady stream started to die down, Flynn took the opportunity to ask him while Yuri was making a pot of tea.

"Why do you keep trying to turn them away?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"They're only trying to help you."

He dropped a scoop of dark tea leaves into an old porcelain pot that was peppered with faint, vein-like cracks and added a kettleful of steaming water. His movements were graceful and each one based on the memory of his body. It reminded Flynn of the movements he made in battle. His seemed to be weighing what he was going to say, as if he wasn't sure if it was something he was certain that he should. He finally spoke as the tea steeped and he kept his eyes on it. "They don't owe me anything."

"But--"

"When I first came to Dahngrest, the people here opened their arms to me. They accepted me so easily as one of their own and nothing I have done to this point could repay that."

It was so unusual to hear Yuri talk about himself at all that it surprised Flynn. It sent him thinking back to what Karol had told him about Yuri's exodus from Zaphias at a young age. "How old were you when you came here?"

"I was ten."

Even coming from his own mouth, it was a little hard to believe. He didn't feel like Yuri was lying to him. Yuri may have constantly downplayed his own achievements, but he wasn't a liar. So many others found him honest and trustworthy, why was Flynn still finding it so hard? Was it the war between the two factions that they were each a part of that Flynn occasionally felt still raging in his veins? Was it the lingering doubts about the death of his father? Was it Yuri's blood stained hands and twisted sense of justice that caused him to feel this way?

Something that baffled him further was that Yuri had held onto something since he was that age. It was apparent that the people here had accepted him but had it simply been because he had been so readily adopted by the Don? Karan once spoke of how much he had done for the people of Dahngrest, and if that were the case, was their faith and care for him not founded?

"Why?"

"Why what?" Yuri pushed a teacup at him, but didn't look at him.

"Why did you come here in the first place?"

"The Empire is a place where, if you are born with nothing that's all you can become. Nothing. Dahngrest is a place where with hard work, you can make something of yourself, even if you have nothing." It seemed like a cop out answer. It explained in a roundabout way why Yuri had made the trip, but it lacked specifics like he had come to expect. It wasn't the answer he was looking for, but he feared that if he pressed Yuri further, his stubbornness would kick in and he would kick Flynn out. Right now, it was almost a relief to just see that he was still somewhat functioning.

They drank their tea in silence. Yuri's eyes were no longer red from tears, but they still had the heaviness of grief where light and mischievousness had once been. It was something that Flynn felt wouldn't soon change.

Death was hard to overcome, and eventually impossible. Surely, Yuri knew that. He had been the harbinger of death for many. He had been remorseless and unhesitating in the two moments where Flynn had seen him poised like a wolf on the hunt, ready to strike mercilessly, dark and bloodied, the Enforcer of Dahngrest.In the aftermath of both those moments, he had been different.With Ragou, he had been cold, and Cumore, furious, probably due to the fact that Flynn had stopped him before he could kill. He hadn't wanted _this_ , though. He hadn't wanted to raise his sword against someone he cared for. What had driven him to step forward, even though Flynn had volunteered? Was it that he hadn't been able to stand to see an Imperial strike down the Don, with the possibility of taking credit for it later? That hadn't been Flynn's reason, at the time or now, but Yuri would have certainly suspected him of such things.

A skitter of claws broke his concentration as Repede hopped in the open window by the door. His head and tail drooped as he padded across the floor and sat down beside Yuri, placing his head in Yuri's lap with a small whine. Yuri petted the dog's head quietly as he sipped his tea. When he was finished he stood and he and Repede started down the hall.

"You should head back to the inn. Estelle's probably worried sick about you." Yuri didn't look back at him, and a moment later, slipped quietly into his room. Flynn heard the bed springs creak as Yuri's weight slumped into it, and a second later, a smaller creak that he assumed was Repede.

While it was likely Estellise had woken, Flynn didn't feel the urge to go protectively to her side immediately. Yuri hadn't kicked him out per say, and instead of going, he decided to stay in the cold, lonely apartment. He had no obligation. He merely felt like it was the right thing to do.

 

 


	42. Chapter 42

The next morning, he woke with Repede's tongue in his face. The dog whined at him and nudged him.

Flynn's vigil the night before had ended in him collapsing on the sofa in a tangled position that left an ache in his legs and back. Muffled voices filled the room, growing clearer as he woke a little more. He sat up and spotted Yuri at the door, still wearing what he had the night before, and his long black hair tangled from sleep. Standing in the doorway was Harry.

"Maybe you didn't get the idea yesterday, but I'm not really up for talking."

"Yuri, please. I just..."

"I don't care right now. Whatever it is can wait."

Before Harry could say another word, Yuri closed the door in his face with an amazing calm. He called Yuri's name once from the other side, and Yuri just stood there, stone faced, staring at the wood in silence. After a moment, Flynn could hear Harry stomp down the stairs and back onto the streets of Dahngrest.

Yuri took a deep breath and let go of the door handle. He turned slowly and must have seen that Flynn was awake. "You, too."

Heavily, reluctantly, Flynn stood. It was enough that Yuri had allowed him to stay last night, and in his current state, Flynn was grateful for that much. For now, he could leave well enough alone. He took to the streets.

The shops in the market were open for business this time, but it was a much more somber atmosphere than it had been. In one day, the whole town had lost its spark, and its hope.

He returned to the inn to find Estellise awake, sitting up in bed. Rita was curled up around her, cat-like, her head in Estellise's lap. Estellise was stroking her hair gently, a motion that faltered a little when Flynn entered.

"Flynn, where have you been?" Her tone wasn't harsh, but concerned.

"I'm sorry, Lady Estellise. I went for a walk." If he admitted that he had ended up at Yuri's apartment, it would have made him sound concerned for the guildsman, but he was still unsure that he really was.

"Why did things end up this way?" She said somberly, and continued in a growing stammer. "Everything went so wrong, so quickly. First Zaphias... then Nordopolica... and now Dahngrest...."

He wasn't sure what he could say to satisfy her question, whether or not there was an answer and whether or not she wanted to hear it.

"Once Rita wakes up, I'd like to go see how Yuri and Karol are doing."

Flynn, stupidly, hadn't even thought to check on the distraught child. "I don't know about Karol, but I'm certain that Yuri just wants to be alone for the time being."

"I suppose that's understandable after everything that's happened." She shifted, gingerly moving Rita's head to a nearby pillow so that she could stand. She came to sit at the modest table, and with a pat of her hand on its surface, beckoned him to do the same. "I've been thinking. I know that right now, seeking aid from either the Union or Palestralle would be callous, if not outright insulting."

He settled into the seat across from her. The thought had crossed his mind as well. Now that the leaders of the two other world powers were gone, the help that they asked for was likely not coming. Nordopolica was, he assumed, still under Imperial occupation, and without Don Whitehorse, the Union wasn't in much better shape. They were essentially helpless and back at square one.

"I don't know what we should do next, but this senseless war has to end. Alexei must be stopped. And when it's all over, and the world can finally be at peace, I was thinking of offering Yuri a home in Zaphias."

"What?"

"It's hardly enough compared to everything he's done for us. I know that Yuri considers Dahngrest his home, but maybe Zaphias would give him a nice change of pace, especially after everything that's happened."

"Lady Estellise--"

She continued, "I mean, I know that he doesn't really like the Empire, but if the Empire and the Guilds are at peace, maybe that will change."

"There _might_ be a problem with that." He swallowed hard and waited for her to hear him. Was he really going to do this? Why did it seem so hard suddenly to present to her the facts about Yuri, the dark truth that she didn't know? If the people of Zaphias, if the Imperial Council knew what he, a member of a guild, had done to one of them, Ragou, there would be no way that he would be welcome. He would be arrested and suffer no small consequences for his actions. She deserved to know the truth, but a part of him was conflicted about whether or not this was _right_.

"What do you mean?" She was still so innocent and blind to the truth of Yuri. She hadn't witnessed him as Flynn had. Flynn knew why he had done the things he had done, and while he didn't agree with them, he couldn't help but feel a strange sort of understanding. Yuri knew the differences between Law and Justice, and was unafraid to break one to uphold the other.

"It's just that... Yuri is a guild member, and even if the Empire and the Union were at peace, I think after this long war, the people of Zaphias would find trusting him very difficult."

"But with time and patience, even that can be overcome."

"Lady Estellise." He choked to swallow the hard, metallic tasting lump in his throat. "Yuri is... he's not all that he seems. Some of the things he has done would never be considered acceptable."

"What kind of things?" She furrowed her brow, growing concerned. It was obvious that he wasn't going to be able to sway her with just that explanation. He would have to tell her everything he knew.

"Yuri Lowell... Yuri is a murderer."

Estellise shrunk back in shock, eyes wide, lips curled tight. It took her a moment to find her voice. "Flynn, I know that you and Yuri don't get along, but... but accusing him of such things is inexcusable and unbecoming. Yuri is caring and...." She thought he was lying. Maybe she honestly believed it.

"Lady Estellise, I swear to you. I witnessed with my own eyes Yuri murder Magistrate Ragou, and later make an attempt on the life of Captain Cumore. When he was at Ghasfarost before us, it wasn't because he was looking for Dahngrest's blastia core. He was there to kill Barbos."

"No...." Estellise folded back into her chair. She didn't want to believe it. He could see it in her eyes, but with his eyewitness testimony, it was hard to her to discount his account. Her reaction wasn't making his explanation easier. In fact, it was only making him feel a strange tinge of guilt. "It... It just isn't right. Yuri's such a good person. He cares about people. Yuri, he.... Flynn, this isn't right."

He said nothing further and gave her a few moments to collect herself. She took a few labored breaths and dried her eyes before staring down deeply into the wood grain of the table, lost in thought. It was a lot to take in all at once, so he gave her the silence for contemplation she needed.

"I'm sorry." She stood hurriedly, barely shoving her chair back into place. "I need to go see him."

"Wait, Lady Estellise!"

She was out the door of their room before he could stop her, and left to navigate the streets of the city alone. Had it simply been the news he gave her, or was it something more that spurred her into action to find him?

 

* * *

 

The weight of everything bore down so heavily on him that he thought it would just crush him, knocking the air from his lungs, and letting his life slowly fade away. But every time he opened his eyes, he found himself still here, still breathing, still bearing a burden that weighed more than the depth of the ocean. It was still his, and he would still shoulder it. No one else could. He only needed some time to get his bearings and renew the strength of his conviction.

Yuri had spent much of his time sleeping. It had been one of the only ways to get away from the memories of recent events that plagued him and haunted his every step. Every now and then, he had paced his apartment, through the tracks of places where the memories were happy and not dark. He had eaten what he could of the feast brought before him by the citizens of Dahngrest, their way of giving him their condolences for the death in his family, but even the best food tasted ashen in his mouth. He had tried to turn them away, but they had all insisted that they were only trying to help. Even Flynn had seemed to make an attempt at alleviating the pain. He had gone so far as to _hug_ Yuri. Yuri still wasn't sure why, and he wasn't sure he liked it. He would have felt much better after a fight.

People had come and gone, but he never let any of them stay. Harry had shown up twice, Raven only once, Flynn once, and easily half of the citizens. No matter how low he felt, how weak and helpless and worthless, he couldn't bring himself to ask for their help. He hadn't earned it. He didn't deserve it. They didn't owe him anything.

When a knock came at his door, he was honestly prepared to have to turn Harry away a third time, or threaten him with a beating. He padded to the door slowly, hoping that whoever was there would just go away in the time it took, but he still opened it when he got there.

It was Estelle, standing there, a small tremble in her limbs, wearing a look of disbelief and sadness. He had a feeling that she wasn't going to be as easy to turn away as the others had been.

He tried to put on a smirk, but it just wasn't in him, and he was only able to manage a weak half smile. "What brings you here?"

"Can we talk?"

He motioned for her to enter with a small nod and shut the door behind her. She moved in and sat on the sofa, watching him briefly as he took the long path around and sat on the top of his coffee table. "What do you want to talk about?"

She bit her lip for a moment as if trying to tread carefully through whatever conversation may be about to take place. "Do you know what happened to Magistrate Ragou?" The tone of her voice wasn't accusatory, but it was knowing.

Yuri thought on it for a second. He had no reason to lie to her about it, and yet he still dreaded somewhere deep inside the judgment from her. Once he wouldn't have cared if she knew, but things had changed along the way. Somewhere along the way, she had become more than an Imperial princess he happened to be traveling with, and something more of a friend. And after everything, she deserved the truth.

"I killed him. It was right after I left the Sagittarius the night we returned from Ghasfarost."

"Why?"

"You saw what he used his power to do in Capua Nor. People like that have no place in this world. The laws of the Empire wouldn't bring him to justice, and if left alone, he would only continue. He wasn't the first one."

She nodded as if she understood, but he was pretty sure that she didn't. It wasn't an easy thing to understand and accept, especially coming from a position as lofty as she held. She couldn't have understood his motivations in every case, but in Ragou's, she had witnessed the place in the darkness that had caused so much grief. That had to be plain in her mind, even if she didn't agree with his methods. And even knowing this, her unspoken judgment of him was almost heavier than Flynn's very outspoken censure.

"Are you afraid of me?"

He waited a long moment for her reply and after that, he couldn't handle it any more. He dropped his head into one hand, holding back a sigh. "Maybe you should go."

"I'm sorry. I'm just confused." She fumbled with her hands in her lap, staring down at them. "It's true that you broke the law, but in doing so, you saved lives."

"I'm not asking you to accept the things I've done. Murder is a crime."

She shook her head. "But you committed that crime in the defense of others."

"It wasn't justice, Estelle." It sounded so much more bitter when it came out of his mouth.

Her response surprised him. She leaned off the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck. He resisted the urge to jerk backward like he had with Flynn, and instead forced himself to relax and bear it. He could feel his defenses crumbling quickly under her warm and motherly touch.

"Thank you for your honesty, Yuri." She squeezed a little tighter, pressing her head against his.

He wanted to pull away, but he couldn't. He took a ragged breath and pushed back the well of emotion threatening to overwhelm him. "Thanks."

* * *

 

After Estellise ran off, he had found himself wandering the streets once more. Rita woke and moved off to the library on her own, presumably to get away from the rest of the drama abounding in the city. Flynn was on a mission this time.

Around the corner from the inn, he followed a back alley, hoping that he had the right one. Dahngrest was full of paths and alleys that ran through the expanse of the city, but he was looking for one place in particular. As he rounded down the alley, he found Six Asters. He knew that Karol lived up above, and was hoping to find him there.

He could see through the window that the shop was void of customers, but Karan manned the counter anyway. He moved to the side of the building and up a steep set of narrow wooden stairs. Two doors were there, one with Karan's name, and two others underneath it, and the other door with a little, carved wooden plaque that read 'Karol Capel'. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

It was a long moment before Karol opened the door.

His tears were much more obvious than Yuri's had been, still fresh and wet in his eyes. He sniffled and wiped them, and tried to take a deep breath.

"Flynn? What is it?"

"Can I come in?"

Karol hesitated a moment, wiggling the knob in one hand before he moved aside to allow Flynn entry.

His apartment was less sparse and smaller than Yuri's, decorated with animal hides and trophies, wooden carvings and photographs. He took a long look around as Karol shut the door slowly behind him and turned to look at him.

"Do you need something?"

"I just wanted to stop by to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Karol rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. If he had picked up nothing else from Yuri, the ability to try and hide his emotions was something he was learning to work at. He was, of course, nowhere near Yuri's level of skill at it yet.

"Well, what happened the other day was pretty hard on everyone and I wanted you to know that, in tough times like these, there's a lot of people you can rely on. Don't try to shoulder everything yourself." He felt like this was a talk he should have been having with Yuri, but Yuri wouldn't let him. Even if he was able to speak like this to Yuri, he was certain that it would have fallen on deaf ears and not done a thing to change Yuri's thinking. Karol would be easier to convince that accepting help from others when you need it wasn't weakness.

Karol flopped down on the tiny sofa that was crushed up against the wall, swinging his legs and nodding mutely.

"If there's something you want to talk about, I'll be happy to listen. I sure that Yuri would be, too."

"It... It's not that simple."

"Do you mind if I take a seat?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

The couch creaked beneath him as Flynn settled on its old, brocade upholstered surface. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Y-You won't tell Yuri, will you?"

"Of course not. It can just be between us."

The child hunched over, fingers clenched into the edge of the cushion of the sofa. He drew in a deep, slow breath before opening his mouth to speak. "I-I don't understand. Yuri's heartless!" Karol's tone of voice surprised him as much as the content of his words. "First, he raised his sword against the Don, and then he... he didn't even cry! He didn't do anything!"

Flynn cupped his hands on the boy's shoulder. "I know that it's hard to imagine not being able to cry when something sad happens, but Yuri is... Yuri. He's trying to handle things in his own way. I think that he's just trying to be strong, for your sake, and for all of Dahngrest." He could hardly believe that he was saying this, that he was _defending_ Yuri. But the things he said were true. He had witnessed, even though briefly and barely, how hard Yuri was fighting to hide his emotions. Yuri wasn't heartless. He was a human struggling to be strong in a time when it was hard for anyone to be.

Karol kicked at the edge of his rug and nodded a little. "I guess..."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah."

"If you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me, okay?"

"Okay."

 

 


	43. Chapter 43

The somber silence of the city of guilds continued for a few days while the Union seemed to scramble under the pressure of only having two active leaders. After the shock of the Don's death passed, whispers of succession started to seep through. Flynn wasn't blind to this. It was politics. The people were looking for a leader, and it was no secret who they seemed to favor for the position.

But Flynn was also not blind to the fact that Estellise had been spending an inordinately large amount of time with Yuri since he had spilled the truth about Yuri's dark secret. Maybe he was allowing her to see a small part of himself that he never betrayed, the vulnerable, very human Yuri. And Flynn was left to try, and fail, at plotting their next move.

They were at an impasse. With recent events, the Union would likely withdraw their offer of aid in favor of regrouping and he didn't blame them. Palestralle was under occupation and would be unable to help even if they didn't currently feel like starting a war with the Union. The best he could see, they were in this alone once more, and that wasn't very reassuring. Yes, they had gained some strength in their journey, but the few of them, or the two of them, against Alexei and the whole of the Empire seemed impossible. And he didn't know if he could count anyone other than himself and Estellise in their ranks. Things were looking spectacularly hopeless, but he couldn't give up hope. People were counting on him, whether they knew it or not.

The members of Altosk and the Union were summoned to Union headquarters and Raven invited them to tag along. Estellise had been able to reluctantly pull Rita out of her book, and the three of them, with Karol, who still seemed down in the dumps, and Raven went to join the meeting.

"Why are we even going? It's none of our business." Rita said.

"I think Old Man Whitehorse would have wanted it this way. After all, your agreement with the Union is hanging the balance of this meetin'." Raven trotted ahead of them, walking backwards, his hands folded at the back of his neck. "A lot is riding on this succession meeting."

"Thank you for everything, Raven," Estellise said.

"Eh. It's nuthin'." He spun away from them, but continued his pace.

The Union Headquarters was busy, halls choked with people. Many of them bore the Comrade Crest of Altosk, and at the first sight of Raven, they were allowed through with little incident.

Flynn didn't see Yuri at first. He was a member, and the grandson of the Don, and his presence had to have been required. As they entered the main audience hall, he spotted him near the chair once occupied by his grandfather, standing there silent and dark. On the other side of the chair, was Harry. The two candidates for succession. Among the Master Guilds represented were the only two that remained with a leader that wasn't currently under suspicion for treason. All that remained were Fortune's Market, headed by Kaufman, and Soul Smiths, headed by a knuckly man that Raven pointed out as named Nobis Celestial. Several senior members, possibly founders of Altosk, waited at the front with Yuri and Harry.

The din in the hall died down as the members of the Union gathered. Flynn, Estellise, Rita, and Karol were allowed to stand quietly in the back of the room, as Raven, the Don's second in command, moved to start the meeting.

"We'll now commence the meeting of Altosk and the Heads of the Union on the matter of the succession of Don Whitehorse. If there is no other business, let us start with a vote."

The results seemed obvious, even to an outsider like Flynn.

"Actually, I have business before the Union." Yuri took a step forward, talking over the crowd much to their shock.

Raven, as surprised as everyone else, looked over to Kaufman and Celestial. They stood, and Celestial spoke first.

"What is yer business?"

Yuri strode over to Harry, and from the front of his own vest, plucked the golden Comrade Crest that marked him. He dropped it in Harry's hand while his adopted sibling looked at him in shock, plain and raw.

A gasp ran through the audience hall and all eyes were fixed on Yuri.

"Yuri, do you know what you're doing?" Kaufman asked, taking a step forward.

"I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm leaving Altosk."

"But what about--" Harry started, but Yuri cut him off.

"Being Don falls to you. I don't want it."

"But--!"

"I've been a loyal member of Altosk for years, and now, my debt to Gramps is paid." The shocked and silent crowd parted before him and he walked cool and confident to the end of the hall. He paused, his hand on the door and looked over to Flynn and the others. "Let's go."

Flynn was stunned as well, and held his ground for a moment before Estellise pulled him forward by the sleeve. He stumbled a step before catching himself, and the group followed Yuri out. The moment the door shut behind them, the amassed guild members erupted with shouting and swearing.

Yuri breathed a deep sigh of relief, and his whole body language relaxed. He was not back to normal, but it would probably be as far away from that state of mourning as he could manage for a while.

"Yuri, why did you just up and leave like that?" Karol asked.

"It was something I had to do. You'll understand someday."

The boy didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but Flynn felt like he understood, even if only a little.

They started out of the Union Headquarters, the guards fumbling to allow them to leave. No doubt they were as shocked as the other assembled members. Even Flynn hadn't expected Yuri to pull the move that he had. He had to have known that the people of Dahngrest favored him over Harry for the position of Don. The moment when they had their hopes on him taking the seat of power that his adopted grandfather had held, he had chosen instead to leave the guilds and leave it to his less confident adopted brother.

They stopped on the way through the empty plaza, and he turned to them.

"What are we going to do now?" Estellise asked.

"If we want to put a stop to Alexei, we'll have to do it ourselves. Let's face facts. The Union is useless right now," Yuri replied.

"What did you have in mind?"

"We can't be fools about this," Rita added.

"You're right. We have to tread carefully for now and gather information before we make our next big move. I think I know someone who knows more than she lets on." Yuri's eyes went a shade darker, narrowing with the seriousness of the situation.

"Who?" Karol asked.

"Judy."

Estellise tensed, but calmed after a second. "Do you really think she knows what Alexei is doing?"

He shrugged. "I can't say for sure, but she definitely isn't telling us everything. I think she's worth seeking out."

"I think so, too. I want to know why she attacked me. There's a lot that she's not saying."

"What is wrong with you two?!" Rita huffed. "She tried to _kill_ Estelle! And now we're going to go look for her?!"

"This isn't' a mercy mission, Rita. All we want from her is the truth and, to be honest, if she had really been trying to kill Estelle, I doubt I would have been able to stop her," Yuri explained. "She's the best lead we've got right now."

"Yuri's right."

The mage's cheeks flushed and puffed out in anger, and after a second, she hissed. "Fine."

"Well, that's settled. Karol. Take care of Dahngrest while we're gone, okay?"

Karol wasted no time in disagreeing. "What?! No way! If you're going, I am too!"

"Kid's right. The more people who've got yer back, the better." Raven approached with his long, slumping walk and a crooked smile. "No way I'm lettin' you go this one alone. I still owe Yeager for what happened."

Yuri raised a hand to his face, passing it down. He sighed in frustration before dropping the hand to his hip. "Harry has no idea what he's doing. He needs your help right now."

"Eh, he'll be fine. It's like when a momma bird kicks the baby out of the nest so he can learn to fly."

"/You/ shouldn't be making bird analogies."

"Either way, it's sink or swim for him."

"You can't use that phrase with bird analogies, Old Man. It doesn't work."

"More importantly," Rita interrupted their back and forth, "Do we have any idea where Judith went?"

"I think I might know. Back in the Sands of Kogorh, she mentioned a place called Mt. Temza."

"Now, why would our dear Judith be headed there?"

"You know of it?" Yuri asked.

"A little. It's a mountain peak in the Father Muzaeli Mountains of Desier. There used to be a Krityan village there, but that was ten years ago."

"I wonder if that could be where Judith's from." Estellise turned to Yuri. "Can we go there to look for her?"

"If that's what you want to do. It does seem like our best option now."

Desier meant more sailing, another week delayed in their mission, but Yuri was right. If they could find Judith and get an explanation, they might be a step closer to their goal.

Footsteps running in their direction turned their attention to Harry, sprinting through the streets of Dahngrest. He stopped short right in front of Yuri, a scowl on his face.

“Harry....”

He thrust his arm out to Yuri, his hand closed.

“What--” As soon as Yuri dropped his hand to his side, Harry pressed something into his palm and withdrew before Yuri could think to react.

“Just because you feel like walking away doesn't mean that you're not still the Don's grandson.”

There in Yuri's hand was his Comrade Crest. He looked at it for only a second before shoving it into one of his vest pockets and turning away from Harry. His face was expressionless, but Flynn couldn't imagine what he was going through on the inside.

“We've got work to do,” Yuri said, taking a series of steps away from Harry.

In short order, they boarded the Fiertia, and set sail for the arid continent of Desier.

 

 


	44. Chapter 44

Another week of sailing, and they spotted the Father Muzaeli Mountains looming in the distance. They had steered clear of Nordopolica and the surrounding waters, but Yuri hadn't been able to help but wonder what was happening in the Coliseum city, and whether or not that monstrous Heracles was there, or still roaming the waters of the Inner Ocean.

They landed down on a rocky, pebble covered beach in a sort of harbor eroded into the edge of the continent between the lines of craggy mountains. Islands and further peaks dotted the area surrounding the harbor, providing a bit of a hiding spot from the open ocean.

While the rest of the party checked the map to get their bearings, Yuri and Repede took to scouting on the beach and surrounding area. Over a hill, another alcove of shoreline was etched into the land. He didn't like at all what he found there. Two imperial ships, too small to be warships, but each sleek and built for reconnaissance. They looked void of people, but in a serviceable shape, so they hadn't wrecked. Yuri knew that where there were imperial ships, Imperial Knights were not far behind. He watched them for a few moments for any movement, but there was nothing and he returned to camp.

"Bad news," Yuri said.

"What's going on?" Karol asked.

"Down the shore and over a hill are a couple of imperial recon ships."

Estelle gasped. "Could they be after Judith, too?"

"That seems unlikely," Rita said, tapping on her chin.

"Maybe it has something to do with Mt. Temza." Flynn looked out in the direction of the mountains. "Why did you suspect that she came here?"

"When we were passing through the Sands of Kogorh, she mentioned it in passing as a place for answers."

Rita spun to look at him with eyes aflame. "That's your big hunch?! We came all the way back to this desert on that information?!"

"I never said it was great info." Yuri shrugged and turned toward the mountains. "She mentioned it when we saw those huge pits in the desert. She said that she had seen them before, and said Mt. Temza was the place. It's not much, but right now, it's all we've got to go on."

She huffed and grumbled but said nothing further, choosing instead to stomp away from camp. Estelle followed with a promise to bring her back shortly.

Yuri didn't say it, but he agreed with Flynn. While it was possible that the Empire was after Judith for one reason or another, it was more likely that they had their sights set on something larger. The Empire didn't care for small progress. Instead, it set its goals much more loftily and didn't care whoever or whatever was trampled in the process of that so called 'progress'. /The ends justify the means./ Yuri had to admit, though, that he didn't stray too far from that thinking in his own way.

He tried to go over all the facts in his head. The ruinedvillage of Mantaic and its missing barrier blastia. The pits dotting the desert landscape, lined with glassy fragments. What Judith had mentioned about Mt. Temza. The Knights trying to seal off the Weasand of Cados using Garista's devices. The sudden and violent attack on Nordopolica. Where did this tangle of weaving paths lead? Yuri had no doubt that both Garista and Alexei were somehow involved, and the whole mess left a bad taste in his mouth. He was hoping Judith had answers.

Judith had always seemed to know more than she let on. She had been at Ghasfarost. She had destroyed blastia without telling him why, but the process seemed selective. She had been at Heliord. She had known of Phaeroh. She had known of the Heracles. And somehow, she had known what was going on in the desert. What had she been hiding and why?

As soon as Rita and Estelle returned, they decided to keep moving rather than risk the Knights coming back and having to fight their way to Mt. Temza.

Map in hand, they followed the cliff side, shaded from the scorch of the desert sun, toward where the mountain range rounded and followed the sharp curves of the continent with its back to the Outer Ocean. They followed the same travel pattern they had when crossing the heart of the desert, pausing during the noon and the late evening hours to rest before continuing. Thankfully, this trek was over the next day as they neared a tall peak with a single path carved up its side.

"Is this it?" Estelle asked, casting her green eyes up its surface.

"Yup. This here's Mt. Temza," Raven replied. He started the steep hike, and they followed, tramping over steps that had once been carved into the side of the mountain, but were now eroded, decrepit, and overgrown with dry desert plants.

The rocky ground threatened to crumble beneath their feet as they worked their way up the narrow path to a flat cliff. Karol's footing slipped a few times, but Yuri caught him by the back of his shirt, and hoisted him up to a larger foothold. By the time they reached the top, they were all nearly panting for breath. The air here was thin and if they weren't careful, they could lose consciousness.

When Yuri caught his breath, he spotted Raven standing at the cliff's edge, his ice blue eyes lost in the distance. He took a few steps up to join him. Rather than fixating on what would have otherwise been the clearest view of the horizon that Yuri had ever seen, his eyes moved immediately to the valley below them.

Deep, circular scars marred the bottom and sides of the rocky valley, pits lined with sediments that glittered in the light of the oppressive sun. It was the same as the depressions from the Sands of Kogorh.

He hardly heard the others approach over the howl of the mountain wind through the scarred valley and up against the face of the cliffs.

"These... these are the same marks we saw in the Sands of Kogorh. What could have made them?" Estelle asked, pushing a bit of her hair behind one ear as she looked over the landscape in awe and horror.

"From the looks of it, these are much older than the ones we saw there," Rita replied.

"These are the scars of the Great War that was waged ten years ago on this battlefield," Raven's voice strained a bit and his eyes never moved.

"The Great War. A battle between humans and monsters,” Estelle whispered.

"It's a tad more complicated than that." He turned to look at them and for a moment, Yuri felt like he didn't recognize him. "Ta be more precise, it was between the Empire and the Entelexeia. That part was kept well outta the public view."

"Against the Entelexeia? But why?" Karol asked.

"Can't say for sure."

"So, then what caused these pits?" Yuri had ideas about that, nagging at his brain.

"Sorry. That's another answer I don't have." His eyes became lost once more.

Yuri knew that the Don had fought in the Great War, and from the way that Belius spoke, he assumed that Gramps had been on the side of the Entelexeia. Had Raven been there at his side? He was old enough to have been here ten years ago. Everything that Yuri knew about the war was from the few stories Gramps had told them when he was a kid, and all of those were incredibly vague.

"Look over here," Flynn called from the back and Yuri turned to see him a few yards up the path, squatting down and examining something in the dirt. Yuri and the others joined him.

Etched in the dry soil, were the footprints of heavily armored warriors, numbers of them stamped into the dirt that made determining their approximate number impossible. They had tromped up the path not long ago and it was evident that they hadn't left. What they were doing here, in a place they had once ravaged with war and left abandoned, Yuri didn't know, and he certainly didn't like the possibilities.

On top of the track was another set, these much more distinctively shaped. They were boots, the first set embossed with a scale pattern that flowed with the movement of a serpent, and the second set that followed behind were a bird foot shape. He sighed and stood. The knights were enough trouble without these two here also.

"Looks like the Knights aren't the only ones we have to worry about."

"What do you mean?"

"A couple of the Hunting Blades are here also." He pointed out the tracks. "They regularly wear skins and use things like this to disguise themselves from monsters."

Across from him, he could see Karol's brow furrow and he heard him whisper a name.

"We should keep moving. We don't want them finding Judy before we do."

As they started up the old trail, he watched as Raven lingered briefly behind them, and caught up before he thought anyone noticed. He tried not to let it worry him. They had more pressing problems.

They followed the trail up the mountain, avoiding as best they could areas that seemed too fragile to traverse. Whatever had happened here had caused more damage than any amount of wind or rain could in a thousand years.He continued to wonder what sort of force could have wreaked such havoc, and he kept coming back to the Heracles.Could this have been a testing ground ten years ago for a prototype of that massive weapon? It wasn't impossible. After all, only four years ago, Ceazontania had proven a similar, fertile ground for Garista's work. While the Heracles was newly made, it had to easily be years in the making between research, testing, and cultivating the blastia. All in all, with a site like this, it was little wonder that there had been few survivors of the Great War.

The path took them around another cliff that allowed them another horrifying eyeful of damage carved into the land. The higher they climbed, the more it became apparent and the worse it seemed. They paused to take a short break to catch their breath. Yuri was glad to let his aching legs rest a moment, but he quickly lost Raven, Estelle, and Karol to the grim sight below.

"It's so sad to think of how many people must have died here. How terrible." Estelle bowed her head a little as if offering a prayer before scanning the valley once more.

"Yeah. There were only a handful of survivors," Raven replied.

"Were you there, Raven?" Karol, of course, hadn't made the same connection that Yuri had. After all, no one spoke so heavily of a battle as someone who had been there and lived through it.

"Yes. And I should have died back then, too."

A shiver shot up Yuri's spine and he heard Estelle and Karol fall silent.

Was it the truth that made him say that? Had Raven been grievously injured here? Yuri felt like it was something more than that.

Raven had served the Don for years, maybe even longer than Yuri had lived in Dahngrest, and he had only a week earlier witnessed his death. Did he feel guilty for being the one to survive after so long? If Yuri had suffered the agony of losing the Don, Raven must have been feeling it, too. If they had served in the war together and both survived then, the burden of the Don's death would have been an even heavier weight now. It was a burden that could not have been easy to bear, Yuri knew that for certain, and it was manifesting now, under the stress of being in a place where he may have almost died before. It could not have been easy on him.

"Don't sound so grim, Old Man. You must have lived for a reason." It was insignificant, but it was a little comfort that Yuri could offer.

Raven turned and smiled grimly. "Guess yer right, kid. After all, if I hadn't, I wouldn't be here with you all now. A wise man once said 'Even chance acquaintances are decreed by destiny.' I guess this was just meant to be."

"Can we cut out all the death talk? It's morbid," Rita huffed, the look on her face showing just how uncomfortable she was with the subject.

"If everyone's sufficiently rested, we should keep moving," Flynn added.

They rallied once more and continued their trek. At noon, they found a long stone bridge, the arcs and columns that once adorned its sides now fallen and ruined. On the other side, the peak rose again, and the path wound up to another set of steps carved into the mountainside. These were even more worn from the test of time and the barrage of war.

As they approached, Repede began to growl low in his throat, the crest of blue fur on his head and down his back bristling expectantly. His ears twitched and his tail rose in a sharp arc as he put his nose to the ground. A bare second later, his growling became almost snarling.

"Hold on. Something's going on up ahead." Yuri knelt and listened to what Repede told him before repeating it to the others. "It seems that the Knights are up ahead."

"Oh no! Could they have already found Judith?" Estelle gasped.

Yuri still doubted that Judith was the Knights' target. He crept up the path a little to take a peek. There were two Royal Guards standing in the hollowed out ruins of a city, chatting, and their guard generally lowered. Further along, he could see others sifting through the ruins, pulling out dusty, worn old books and other artifacts. There were probably more hidden inside the buildings, and with no other way into the ruins other than the path they were on, he formulated a plan.

"Let's get them by surprise. If we rush them, we'll have a better--"

A groan and a shout alerted them. Yuri moved once more to look over the hill, only to have to roll out of the way to dodge an armored form flying at him. The Knight was propelled in his direction by an amazing force and hit the ground behind the party with a thud. Another one flew by only a split second later, and a commanding voice rang out before them.

"Get her!"

Yuri sprung up over the hill, sword in hand, and Repede bounded after him. Judith stood in the center of the path, confronted by a growing number of Royal Guards. She spun, knocking another knight down, and pressed to break their circular formation around her. Normally, her fighting style had a playful grace to it, but the Judith that stood here now was harrowed and desperate. She didn't waste a single movement. She was fierce, raw, and primal in her attack.

Even though she had attacked Estelle, and betrayed them, she was still in need here and he flew forward to aid in the fight. Repede dashed in, and the others after him. They didn't need to question yet. All they needed to know was that the Empire was currently the enemy and whatever their purpose was here, they needed to be stopped.

One knight went for Judith's exposed back, sword ready to swing in an end-all strike, but Yuri slammed his foot into the knight's side, kicking him out of the way and sending him tumbling into another and then down. Judith shot him a brief look, surprise and some relief, before jabbing forward into the ranks of several others. Even Rita, who had probably been the most furious with Judith's betrayal, came to her aid, unleashing her fury in spells of stone and fire.

Even thirty knights were no match for them, and finally they stood victorious.

"Judith, are you all right?" Estelle moved toward her without fear, hands raised as she prepared to cast a healing spell.

Judith spun, crouching into her fighting stance once more, spear clutched tight in her hands as she pointed it at Estelle. Her crimson eyes were wild and bright and the tension in her body showed that she was prepared to attack them. "Leave."

Estelle didn't move, but not for fear. Rather, she didn't flinch as the weapon that was once raised against her was poised to try and finish the job. "Please, Judith. We just want to help."

"That's not completely true. We want something from you," Yuri added.

"What?"

"We want the truth. About everything."

A long, tense moment hung there before Judith's grip on her spear loosened a little and she let the tip of it slip against the ground. "Please. Just give me a little more time and I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Why not--" Rita's argument was cut short by a shrill and bellowing warble that echoed down through the city from the peak above.

"Ba'ul!" She jolted back, gripping firm her spear once more, and sprinted up the path toward the peak.

"Judith, wait!" Estelle was after her first, and Yuri and the others followed. They rushed behind her up the long, winding path to the top of the mountain, lungs burning from thin air and no breath. Another cry echoed, much closer, and in a grotto off the path, they found the dragon Judith called her partner, lying to one side. Encroaching on him were two familiar forms.

"Nan!" Karol called out.

The girl turned, spinning her hefty boomerang blade around her waist, and the tall man turned, too. "Karol, what are you doing here?!"

"Well, if it isn't the Don's lackeys." Tison adjusted his fingerless gloves and popped his knuckles. "Beat it. We're working here."

"You will not pass." Judith put herself between them and her friend, ready to fight for survival once more.

Yuri joined her, sword at the ready, "If you think we'll let you do what you want, you're dead wrong."

Estelle and Flynn, too, added themselves to the barrier growing around the dragon. "Judith is our friend, and we won't allow you to hurt her or her partner!"

"You're people! Why are you defending a monster?!" Nan shouted at them.

Raven slouched over, drawing his transformer bow. "Sometimes, the monsters in this world aren't so apparent, Missy."

"I-I'm sorry, Nan. But I can't let you do this." Karol's response was unsure, but he still took a stance beside them in Ba'ul's defense, and Rita didn't waste any time.

"No one gets to take a whack at the dragon freak but me!"

"I guess you couldn't leave well enough alone then. Fine!" Tison raised his hand, fingers curled tight against his palm and his sharp nails poised to cause damage. "Anyone who defends a monster doesn't have the right to be called a person! Anyone who gets in our way gets eliminated!"

Nan seemed to hesitate for a second, but her resolve returned and her feet slid into a slight crouching stance. "Even you, Karol!"

Tison surged forward, clawing at them with the intent to scatter them, but Flynn drove him backward. Raven fired several shots at Nan, not giving her a chance to swing her blade toward them where it could cause massive damage. Karol hacked at her to keep her away, but from the corner of his eye, Yuri could see that his heart wasn't in the fight. He couldn't blame him, but they had to make a stand here.

Yuri focused his attention on Tison, who would be the more formidable of the two. He was lethally fast, with martial arts moves that could take out even heavily armored opponents with ease. In spite of being a target himself, Tison didn't waste any time turning his malice against Estelle.

Nan was proving a challenge for Karol even with Raven and Rita as backup. She pursued him relentlessly, throwing attacks that would have been difficult for even Yuri to dodge. She separated herself from her friendship with him and in this moment, she meant absolute business in the name of her guild. She hit him with an upward strike of her blade, sending him staggering across the field and moved in swiftly for a follow up attack. Rita stalled her with her Champagne spell, and as soon as she pulled herself, drenched and livid, off the ground, Raven followed up with his Serpent arrows. Nan shifted her attention to Rita, pinning her with attacks against the rock wall to keep her from casting. Karol recovered and shoved her away.

In the chaos of the fight, Yuri and Judith tag teamed Tison and let Flynn and Estelle provide them with back up. Repede maneuvered around him, switching between dash and slash attacks, and brute force to knock him down. Tison wasn't going to go down without a fight, and jumped and flipped in an effort to dodge the multiple blows aimed at him. He leapt at Judith, swiping furiously. As soon as she backed up, he moved on to Flynn, pressing him back, and then to Yuri. He was making them give him space, and Yuri didn't like the idea of why he could be doing that.

Yuri surged forward, not intending to give him enough space to make a powerful attack, and pushed him in the direction of Flynn. Repede rushed to his help, weaving between Yuri and Tison, snapping and slicing at the man to keep him in motion and not giving him a second to retaliate.

Flynn sliced at him, but Tison recoiled like a snake, dodging Judith's spear in the process, and jumped out of the fray. He landed several yards away and struck the ground with his fist. A shock wave spread from the impact site, a bright green energy moving across the ground like a cloud of serpents.

The shock of energy, sent Yuri staggering back a step, and then a second, but he saw an opening in Tison's defenses. He charged while the hunter's fist was still implanted in the ground and began a flurry of swipes. Tison tumbled backward. As agile as he had been before, between the injuries that he had incurred and still reeling from Yuri's last assault, he was scrambling to get back on his feet and in a position where he could cause damage once more. Repede didn't give him the chance to get his bearings between savage dashes. He sent Tison rolling across the field, and Tison sprung back, swiping at them in full force as he came at them from above.

He attempted to pin Judith, who swung at him with all her might. He dodged and set his sights once more on Estelle, who stopped casting to heal Raven and pulled her shield in front of herself to defend against his coming attack. As soon as he grabbed the top of the shield with the intention of ripping it away, she swung it hard, knocking him back a step. Having the advantage, she thrust her sword at him over a dozen times at a fierce and fiery pace. He seemed thoroughly surprised that even their healer was so tough.

As soon as she paused to breathe and while Tison was still reeling from her attack, Yuri followed up with his Ghost Wolf Strike, sending him skidding across the ground and slamming him into one of the walls. He collapsed like a lifeless doll, the fight in him gone. With that, only Nan was left.

Karol was caught in a parry with her, his huge blade against hers. Yuri felt like this was an important fight for the boy.He had to fight in earnest, but Karol was hesitating here. Yuri couldn't say he blamed him, but it was a lesson that he was going to have to learn one way or another.

Nan shifted her weight only slightly, but Yuri could see that pressure building in the tension of her blade as she forced it down on him. Karol's footing faltered a step and Yuri could see that he was losing it. He interjected himself, knocking Nan back with a blow from his shoulder.

She shouted and rolled away, but sprang back into action with incredible speed. She was on them again, once more targeting Karol for her wrath, but Yuri stayed in close pace with her footing and matched her attempts at getting rid of him with what had to be vexing evasion tactics. She dipped down low, letting the boomerang blade settle on her hips and Yuri knew what she was going for, and he wasn't the only one.

Most people would have qualms about attacking a young girl, but Judith wasn't in this for fun and games. This was a fight of life or death for her and her partner. Before Nan could perform an arte similar to Tison's, Judith kicked her into the air and followed with a jump and downward spear strike, pinning her against the ground.

She fumbled to stand, but Judith held the tip of her spear against Nan's throat, a very clear warning to surrender or die. Nan seemed to heed this warning, but the look in her eyes said that she was not yet prepared to give up completely.

"Leave this place and do not return," Judith warned.

"Anyone who associates with monsters, who would stand to protect them, will feel the wrath of the Hunting Blades. You're no better than monsters yourself. Even you, Karol."

Karol couldn't look at her, the shame and confusion plain on his face. This was no easy thing to understand.

Before Nan could speak again, more disheartening words, Judith raised her spear.

"Judith, no!"

She struck anyway, hitting Nan across the top of her head with the blunt butt of the spear. The blow knocked the girl out instantly, and Yuri and Flynn wasted no time in tying Nan and Tison up. They left them outside of the cave, where, if they were to awaken, they couldn't overhear what they were discussing.

"Everyone...."

"Are you all right, Judith?" Estelle asked.

"Yes. Thanks to all of you."

"You still owe us an explanation." Given the situation, Yuri felt like he was less angry than he should have been, but there was much more than this weighing on him.

"I haven't forgotten." She looked to Ba'ul, who still laid on the ground, scaled chest heaving with labored breaths, and his glassy yellow eyes half lidded and weary. She knelt down beside him, running a tender hand across the side of his face, over feather-like scales. "You may know that this place, Mt. Temza, was the battle ground for the Great War."

"Yeah, Raven mentioned that," Karol said.

"The Great War was sparked by a type of blastia."

"What?" Anything involving blastia had Rita's immediate attention, but news like this even more so.

"It's not quite the kind of blastia you're thinking. It's not the kind that have been excavated from Krityan ruins. Rather, it was constructed here in the city of Temza with a technology created ten years ago. It was called the Hermes blastia."

"You can't just create blastia though. It's been tried. It's impossible," Rita said. "And I've never heard of anything called a Hermes blastia."

"Hermes was a Krityan scientist who discovered how it could be done, and as a result, the newly constructed blastia was much more efficient at conducting aer. They were intended to revolutionize the way that we use blastia."

"But something went wrong," Yuri added.

Judith nodded before continuing her tale. "The formula that the Hermes blastia used required massive amounts of aer to function, resulting in the aer krenes producing more aer in order to compensate."

"But if all the krenes were to overproduce aer like that, the overflow of aer could mean the end of all humanity," Rita added.

"Just like at the Weasand of Cados. Wouldn't want that," Raven hummed.

"The Entelexeia realized the danger of these blastia long before humans had and moved in to neutralize the threat to Terca Lumireis."

"And let me guess. That's how the Great War got started?" He wanted to say that he was surprised by the details, but hearing these things come out about the Empire didn't shock him at all. He knew that what was going on was deeply rooted, and now he knew where those roots were anchored.

"But that means that the Entelexeia were trying to save the world," Karol said.

"Why didn't they just try to explain to humans how dangerous those blastia were?" Estelle asked.

Rita's head dropped, and he could see her fists tightened in anger. She was growling, holding back all of her anger and her whole body was shaking from the effort of it. He expected no less.

"I don't think that either side cared too much either way. Both probably hopin' that they'd end up offing themselves and nipping the problem in the bud. Probably didn't even try talkin' things out," Raven stroked his chin thoughtfully, staring up into the sky. After a moment, he looked back to Judith. "But that doesn't exactly tell us what all that had ta do with you."

"When the city of Temza fell to the flames of war, the research that created the Hermes blastia was believed lost...."

"Wait! Does that mean Hermes models are still in operation?" Karol asked.

"Many of them, actually. The barrier at Ehmead Hill, the weather blastia at Ragou's mansion, the device at the Tower of Ghasfarost and--"

"The ceres blastia aboard the Fiertia," Yuri said.

"That means you've been destroying the Hermes blastia in place of the Entelexeia," Estelle concluded.

Before Judith could speak further about her actions, the moment he was waiting for came, and Rita exploded. "Why didn't you say something?! Were you gonna save the world all on your own? Are you stupid?!"

An awkward silence filled the space between them while they waited for an explanation from Judith. The silence was deafening for only a moment before Yuri broke it.

"I guess it's safe to assume that the Knights are here looking for the remains of that research then," Yuri said.

"I'm afraid so This is not the first expedition either. I'm sure that they uncovered a lot before now," Judith replied.

"You said that the blastia at Ehmead Hill was a Hermes model." Pacing by them, Rita seemed to be thinking.

"That's right."

"That's supposed to be one of Garista's constructions.... That means that hack is using Hermes' work to further his own research. If the Hermes models were destructive, anything that Garista could use to 'improve' upon that design would be even worse." Rita wasn't actually talking to them, instead mulling over her theories over out loud.

A bright light and a shrill warble pulled their attention back to Ba'ul.

Judith dropped to her knees, her hands moving comfortingly across the Entelexeia's face.

"What's happening?" Estelle asked, kneeling beside her.

"Ba'ul is fighting to evolve."

"It looks like he's suffering...." Karol leaned over the two of them.

"Come on, Ba'ul. You can do it."

Estelle reached out to touch him, flinching right before her fingers made contact. She finally laid a hand on him, smoothing it over his head. "I want to help you... but my power is a poison to you, isn't it? I wish there was something more I could do."

"Your power isn't the ability to heal." Yuri put a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. "Belius said it herself. It's your compassion."

"My compassion...." She settled on her calves and folded her hands in prayer. "Please be okay, Ba'ul. I believe in you."

"I'm certain your kind thoughts are reaching him, Estelle." Judith's smile was a small, tired thing.

The body of the dragon began to emit a bright white light, slowly at first, that grew stronger as the seconds passed. Finally, it was blinding and Yuri was forced to cover his eyes. The air all around them became warm and heavy and the dragon cried out again, its warble growing longer and lower and further away. When the light finally receded, and Yuri was able to open his eyes, a huge shadow blocked out the sun.

Above them, floating in the sky was a huge, whale like creature, blue and white. There was no mistaking Ba'ul, only he was much larger

"It looks like your partner's doing just fine," Yuri smiled up at the Entelexeia, bringing one hand to rest on his hip.

Judith sighed with relief, her knees buckling. She braced herself against the cavern wall, and sighed again, deeper this time. "Yes. Thank you all for helping protect him."

"I'm glad that you made it, Ba'ul." Estelle reached up, stroking one of the huge feathers that protruded from his fin.

"I told you that your voice reached him. I'm sure that you could get through to Phaeroh also."

"Do you really think so, Judith?"

"Yes."

"Wait!" Rita pressed herself between Judith and Estelle, pointing at Judith with a swift, violent jab of her forefinger. "Don't think things are all rainbows and sunshine all of a sudden! You still have some explaining to do. Nothing you told us explains why you attacked Estelle."

"That is true. You have only told us why you destroyed the blastia," Flynn added.

"I suppose that I do still owe you at least an explanation for that. Let's leave this place and I'll explain on the way."

"But how are we going to get out of here? Those knights could have come back with reinforcements by now," Karol said.

Judith smiled, although it was tired.She watched as the giant Entelexeia flew off in the direction of the coast. "Ba'ul can take us. I've asked him to go pick up the ship. He's large enough to carry it with the rigging in his mouth. That way he can take us anywhere we want to go. You do still want to see Phaeroh, don't you, Estelle?"

"Yes. I still have much I want to ask him."

"Ba'ul knows the way to where Phaeroh lives. He can take us there."

"Lady Estellise, I must object," Flynn said, stepping forward. "For all we know, Phaeroh still wants you to meet your end. Why walk into the lair of the beast and tempt him? I will go in your stead and return with what you wish to know."

He still didn't get it. Estelle was strong. Surely he had seen how she bested enemies in battle and held her own, in spite of her background as a healer. She wasn't the weak little princess he had seen at the start of this journey. She was no longer as young and naive as she had been, but had grown so much. How could he deny it? And she certainly wasn't going to stand for this either.

"I'm sorry, Flynn. I know that you just want to help, but this is something that I have to do. I need to ask Phaeroh for myself what his words meant."

He wasn't satisfied with this answer, but it shut him up. Yuri had been prepared to interject himself into the situation if he needed to, but Flynn backed down.

Finally, Ba'ul returned, the rigging of the Fiertia clutched in his giant mouth, and the ship dangling down below, rocking slightly with the movements of the air and the Entelexeia. He positioned himself above the open sky cavern and warbled to them.

Tokunaga was screaming, no doubt surprised and frightened by the giant creature that had plucked his ship out of the nearby harbor. He peeked down over the railing to see them below, but that did little to ease his worry. "W-What's going on?! This huge dragon just snatched up the Fiertia and--!"

"Don't worry, Tokunaga. Ba'ul is here to help us. He won't hurt you," Judith called up.

"Drop the rope ladder so we can come up!" Yuri added.

The helmsman hesitated and dithered uncomfortably for a moment before finally dropping one end of the long rope and slat board ladder and letting it unfurl down toward them.

Estelle mounted it first, taking the steps carefully up, and Karol followed behind her. As each person began their ascent, Yuri could overhear Rita muttering at Judith.

"Don't think I'm done yet. I still have more questions for you."

"Of course," Judith smiled. "I expected nothing less from the brightest mage in Aspio."

Rita flushed and pushed Raven angrily out of the way to scramble up the ladder before him. After a moment, only Judith, Yuri, and Repede were left waiting to board.

"I still have questions for you also." His voice was sharp and got his point across. "There's a lot you have to answer for."

"Don't worry. I'm prepared to own up to what I've done. Afterward, you can decide my fate."

The familiar edge to her voice spoke volumes. She knew who he was, and what he had done. His dark secret was an open book to her. And knowing that, only two people of their party were still left in the dark about it. The number of those who knew was growing uncomfortably fast and Yuri feared what that would mean with the one person innocent and ignorant to the bloodstained truth of himself. How much longer could he keep Karol blind?

 

 

 


	45. Chapter 45

Flying was unlike anything else he had ever experienced, a thrilling sensation that so quickly and easily got his heart racing. The wind whipped his long hair all about and back. His arms ached from having to carry Repede up the ladder, but it couldn't be avoided. The dog was not a born climber.

Shortly after boarding Ba'ul, they gathered near the bow of the ship, in the shade of the Entelexeia carrying the Fiertia. Their intention was to question Judith further, and Rita was first in line.

"Now, why did you-- Judith?!"

Judith had one moment been so calm and collected, then suddenly wobbled and her legs collapsed beneath her. Her eyes closed and just before her unconscious form hit the deck, Flynn caught her. He checked her vital signs immediately and Estelle knelt to help.

"She is alive. She's just unconscious," he said.

"She must be so worn out after protecting Ba'ul on her own for so long," Estelle added. "Let's get her into the cabin so she can rest. The questioning can wait until later."

Rita's cheeks puffed up angrily, but she spun and let out a sigh. "Fine. I hope she doesn't think that she'll get out of it that easily! She still has a lot to answer for."

Flynn picked her up, cradling her gently, and took her into the cabin. Repede trotted along behind him, and didn't return a moment later when Flynn did. A peek into the cabin revealed him sitting stalwart at Judith's bedside. For now, there wasn't much else they could do.

Ba'ul flew with the ship in circles for a short time before stopping to hover on the far side of the Father Muzaeli Mountains that faced the Outer Ocean. They had defeated the knights who had been at Mount Temza, but it was likely there were more--reinforcements--and a giant whale dragon carrying a ship would have been a dead giveaway of trouble.

In spite of Rita's protests, Estelle sat attentively at Judith's side with Repede. If she had been afraid of Judith before, that fear seemed to be gone now. Maybe she too assumed that if Judith had honestly wanted her dead, there would have been no hesitation and no surviving it. Judith had been conflicted in that moment, and the same could be said of when she had turned her spear against them a second time on Mount Temza. What had spurred her into action in the first place? He wanted answers--they all did--and thankfully, they only had to wait an hour before Judith regained consciousness.

"Oh my. I hadn't expected that." She touched her forehead gingerly as she sat up.

"Are you feeling all right, Judith? You must be worn out after your ordeal."

She stood after a moment, graceful as ever, as if nothing had happened to knock her off her feet in the first place. She looked down at Estelle, her head cocked curiously to one side. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you care?"

Estelle took a surprised half-step backward, but straightened herself up. "Because you're my friend, Judith."

"I tried to kill you."

"I know, but... but you had to have had a reason. I would like to know what it is."

"What if it's something you don't want to hear?"

"It's the choice I've made."

"I think that Phaeroh may be able to explain it better, if you still wish to meet him."

"I do," Estelle replied without an ounce of hesitation.

"Estelle! This is madness!" Rita grabbed her by the hand. "He wants you dead! Why would you seek him out knowing that?!"

"Rita's right," Judith said. "Phaeroh could attack us and attempt to finish the job I started."

"I have to take that risk. I need to know." She turned to everyone else. "Please wait somewhere safe for me. I promise not to take too long."

"Not a chance," Yuri said before Rita could and got glared at for his interruption.

"I'm going with you, Lady Estellise."

"Me too, Estelle!" Karol said.

"Why not?" Rita said.

She took a deep breath and smiled. "Everyone... thank you."

"So that's settled. I'll have Ba'ul fly us there." Judith turned upward to her partner and her crimson eyes grew so strangely distant. Yuri knew that they were communicating.

After a moment, the whale bellowed and they started off toward the huge black crag in the middle of the desert.

 

* * *

 

He couldn't say that he wasn't nervous, because he was. Facing a creature of untold power who was named as one of the masters of the world was no lighthearted matter. Anybody would be nervous, and he was sure that everyone else was, at least a little in their own ways. This was something that Estellise was compelled to do, so he was obligated to as well. After all, she seemed to have no intention of heeding his or Rita's advice. She was nearly as stubborn as Yuri.

Flynn had been surprised by Yuri. He seemed to have bounced back from the traumatic events at Dahngrest rather quickly. Or he was just amazingly good at hiding it behind that cocky smile of his. Flynn wasn't sure.

They approached the black crag after nearly an hour of flight, either way it was still much faster and less terrible than walking, so he was grateful. It wasn't any easier on his stomach than sailing had been. Ba'ul glided in slowly, stopping to hover next to an outcropping of the spire that allowed them to disembark from the Fiertia.

This high up out of the desert, the wind was no less hot, only stronger as it swept across the rocky and narrow path. There was no shelter from the searing sun, save the passing shadows of clouds.

Judith led the way to the center of the crag, a platform of rock, its sun-worn stone scorched with telltale flashes of fire, blackened with soot in swirling patterns of wings and feathers, and it reminded Flynn of the Entelexeia that he knew as Phaeroh. Wings and feathers of flame grounded in stone, piercing eyes, and golden sharp beak. But that creature was not here.

In the middle of the platform was a stone object, forged by nature and magic into something egg shaped and vaguely flower like. Its surface was black as night from soot and fire. All around, tall stones loomed above them, propped up not likely by nature, but by the Entelexeia. A breeze passed between the rocks, weaving through the open area and pressing onward. This was no simple monster's den. It was a lookout and a fortress.

"Phaeroh, can you please come out?" Judith called into the wind.

It replied with silence and howling.

Estellise tried. "Please, Phaeroh. I would like to speak with you."

There was still nothing.

"Maybe he's not here," Flynn said. It was probable.

 _I am here, humans._ The voice as arid as the desert spoke.

A gust of wind nearly blew them back as the bird of fire and stone descended from the brightness of the sun, and settled his mass on one of the stone pillars. He stared down at them for a long, heavy, unbearable moment, but none of them wavered in his sight.

_Judith, you bring before me this girl. Why?_

"Yes. She says that she wished to speak with you. She knows the risks."

The bird's massive head turned toward Estellise and he spoke again. _You, Child of the Full Moon, who are an insidious poison unto our world and our kind, what could you possibly seek here, knowing that I could end your already brief existence as if it were nothing?_

"Is that how you greet all your guests? Pretty mouthy if you ask me," Yuri slid his hand down the handle of his sword, no doubt ready for a fight if the opportunity presented itself.

"I-I seek the truth!" She stood fearless before the creature that was much larger and stronger than her. "I want to know why I am an 'insidious poison'. I want to know who the Child of the Full Moon really is. I want to know everything."

_What good would this knowledge do you? What would it change?_

"I don't know, but I can try."

He regarded her quietly for another long moment before speaking again. _You are dangerous. The power that you produce is a poison to the Entelexeia as it directly effects the aer that we are composed of. I am certain that you saw as much with the death of my beloved sister, Belius._

"I'm so sorry that it happened. I never meant to--"

_Silence._

"She speaks the truth, Phaeroh. Estelle was only trying to help Belius. She had no idea of what would happen," Judith said. "If anything, Belius's death is _my_ fault. I was unable to prevent Estelle from using her power as the Child of the Full Moon."

 _Enough._ Phaeroh raised his wings, high enough to block out the afternoon sun. _The fact of the matter is that your power is dangerous. The changes in the aer that you cause are causing the aer krenes to over produce what is truly needed. If this continues with the other ruinous changes that mankind has made, the world, our Terca Lumireis, will be brought only destruction._

"That... that is why you tried to kill me." Estellise turned to Judith.

"Yes. Initially, my purpose was to observe you, but after Belius's death, I felt it was too late and that your death was the only choice our world had for survival. My destruction of the Hermes blastia was simply not enough to ebb the tide of destruction."

 _To remove the cancerous and undesirable parts to ensure the health of the whole._ "That's bullshit!" Yuri stepped forward, his sword hand clenched in a tight fist. "Who is the one to decide that Estelle has to die?! Who has that right?"

_This is a principle that humans make constant use of to ensure their own survival as a species. Can you say with any honesty that you have never followed such a principle?_

The look in Yuri's eyes told Flynn that those words stung deep, but that didn't stop him. "Estelle is our friend. I won't just let you sentence her to death like that."

_You are a fool to defy me. She will be our destruction._

"It's all right. If it is true, that my existence cannot be tolerated, then it's okay if I have to die."

Yuri whipped his head to look at Estellise, surprise and anger clear on his face.

"I want there to be another way. I don't want to die, but if there is no other choice, then I will do what I must. I cannot just endanger the whole world."

_No doubt you have seen the desert that is the Sands of Kogorh. This was once a land of lush greenery, a paradise on earth created by the blessing of an aer krene._

"What happened to make it this way?"

_This is the aftermath of an over simulated aer krene. The power of the Child of the Full Moon is more deadly to the krene than any blastia. And because of that, the only resolution is her death._

"Give us a chance to find a solution!" Rita exclaimed, stepping forward.

"Surely there is at least a little time?" Judith asked.

_Time grows ever short for Terca Lumireis, like grains of sand in an hour glass. If you truly wish to find a solution beyond the death of the Child of the Full Moon, I suggest you do not dawdle._

"Thank you, Phaeroh." Estellise clasped her hands and bowed her head.

 _Now be off with you, before I change my mind._ As fast as he appeared, the Entelexeia was gone in a flash of a shadow and they were left with more questions that answers. Flynn wasn't surprised.

"That was some pretty big talk back there. Where are we gonna start lookin' for a solution?" Raven asked.

"I wonder if something like this has happened before. I mean a disturbance in the aer. Naturally, small anomalies occur, but has anything of this magnitude happened previously in Terca Lumireis's history?" Rita pondered, twisting a bit of her choppy hair between her fingers.

"I suggest we try talking to the Krityan Elder. He's also very wise and much less cryptic. Sometimes."

The 'sometimes' didn't sound promising, but Estellise immediately said that she wanted to go and was followed up by Rita, who flushed and said she wouldn't let her go alone. Flynn couldn't understand why she always seemed reluctant and angry, but still followed Estellise around and did nearly anything she asked.

"Thank you, Rita."

"I-It's nothing! If it has anything to do with blastia, of course I'm interested in going. And since your power works like that of a blastia, I-- Never mind!"

Did that mean that Rita was /interested/ in Estellise as well? Her power was, of course, highly unusual and someone of Rita's scientific background would find it intriguing.

"So, that's settled. Where do we go to meet this Elder?" Yuri asked. He also seemed much too interested in being at Estellise's side. Flynn no longer suspected anything foul from Yuri, although that took him a moment to realize. Why should he suspect Yuri still? He called himself a monster, but Flynn found him to indeed be a man. As much as he wanted to, however, he did not have time right now to ponder on Yuri.

"The Elder lives in Myorzo, the home of the Kritya."

"Okay. How do we get there?" Yuri asked.

"I don't know."

The party looked collectively at Judith in disbelief.

"There is a Krityan who lives in Aspio who is supposed to know the way. I'm sure he could help us."

"But how do we get into Aspio at this point? I mean, I know Ba'ul could fly us there, but how are we going to get in undetected?"

"If he could drop us on the northeastern Mayoccia Plains, by the Shaikos Ruins, we could sneak in the back way through the stacks. Only researchers go in and out that way, and I still have all my paperwork," Rita explained. "I guess some of you would be convincing research assistants. Besides, I'm curious about something there."

"Ba'ul says that he can get us there that way. It will take several hours to travel that distance," Judith pulled an strangely shaped item out of a pouch at her thigh. It was an elongated piece of bone, riddled with holes. She handed it to Yuri, who looked at it, puzzled for a moment. "This is Ba'ul's Horn. You can use it to call him wherever you are, but keep in mind, he can't get into tight spots and it's not safe for him to fly over cities. Other than that, he can take us nearly anywhere."

"Thanks, Judy."

They headed back to the waiting Entelexeia. Yuri fell a step behind, and stopped in front of Estellise.

"It's okay if I have to die?"

"Yuri..."

"I never want to hear that again."

"I'm sorry."

He walked onto the ship without another word to anyone and left them behind.

"Lady Estellise...."

"It's fine, Flynn." She wiped one of her eyes and forced a smile.

"We'll find another way."

"Thank you."

 

 


	46. Chapter 46

Author's Notes: Whoops, it's been a little while since the last update. But more importantly, here things are really starting to take a turn for the worse.

* * *

 

The flight over the ocean, albeit fast, had all but destroyed the remains of the dinner on his stomach, but at least they weren't _on_ the ocean moving at such speed. He couldn't even hear the lull and rocking of the ocean this high up, only a cool, brisk wind that caused the rigging to tremble in the mouth of the Entelexeia that was transporting them.

Ba'ul's girth hid the moon save as it just rose, and all the highest stars, so that Flynn was left only the ocean below and the horizon to watch as he stood guard. One would think that they would be perfectly safe. Who would mess with a giant, flying whale-dragon carrying a ship? But the Heracles was ever a worry. They had no idea if it could catch up with them, or even travel across the Outer Ocean. Even the heartiest of Imperial warships weren't equipped for the rough water and deadly monsters just beyond the ring of continents that made up Terca Lumireis.

Flynn had once thought of the world as so massive, nontraversable in the span of a single life, but this high up, it seemed much smaller, and that only made him feel smaller, too.

He was grateful for the safe landing, and even the day long hike that followed it. He hoped that his body would soon get used to the idea of flight. It was dusk when they reached the huge cavern that housed the city of scholars, and they quietly snuck in the same door that they had used on their initial visit.

The Stacks were the long, packed bookshelves that they had seen before, and while the massive library had once been nearly choked with robed scholars of the state, there were only one or two now, noses in books and perfectly content with ignoring them.

They climbed out of the library and passed through the eerily quiet main plaza. Flynn didn't like this trend. Aspio was far from lively, but this was a much different silence. It was the soundlessness that filled empty, unlived in homes.

"Pretty creepy here," Raven said with a shiver. "You mages always this quiet?"

Rita ignored him, crossing the plaza in a dozen strides and heading down the cliff were her decrepit shack sat. Everyone followed, and as they moved, they found a piece of paper nailed to the front of the door.

It was a fine white paper with a pale blue emblem set in its fibers. The symbol was that of the Imperial Council. Rita tore it down quickly, balling it up and tossing it over one shoulder. It bounced off Karol's face and Estellise caught it. She opened it as they entered Rita's home.

"What does it say, Estelle?" Karol asked, trying to peer over her arm.

"It's an official summons addressed to the mages of Aspio. It's an order by the Imperial Council for all blastia researchers to report to Zaphias. It mentions the deployment for the purpose of vital research, and a punishment and heavy fine to those who disobey."

Rita scoffed, slamming the door so hard that the frame of the shack rattled violently with the aftershock. "They think they can order me around! My research is way more important than whatever they have planned."

"But as an Imperial blastia researcher, your research and your self are the property of the state, "Judith said.

Flynn hated to admit that it was true, but it was. Most blastia researchers, even ones like Rita Mordio, were always subject to being given orders about where to go and what to research. Furthermore, any findings were considered property of the Empire. The life of a blastia researchers was largely that of a dog on a short leash.

"The Council, huh?" Yuri took the paper from Estellise and looked it over, even the backside. "They're not who I suspected would be calling all the mages away."

"You mean Garista?" Flynn asked.

"That's right."

"Maybe since it's the Council, they've realized that something is terribly wrong and are trying to save Zaphias."

The groan of displeasure that Yuri emitted told Flynn that he thought that unlikely. Flynn was also worried if that was the apparent motive or not. Could there have been some darker purpose that drove them to pull nearly every mage out of Aspio?"

"So who's this Krityan we're looking for?" Rita took no small pleasure in changing the subject.

"I believe his name was Tort. I can't say with any certainty that he still lives here, but I know this was the last place he was seen."

"I'm sure that I remember a Krityan living here by that name. I think he hung around the plaza a lot," Rita explained.

"All right. We should really minimize our movements. Only a few of us should go so it doesn't look suspicious," Judith said. "Of course, I'll go. I doubt he'd tell non-Krityans what we want to know."

"I'm going also." Yuri didn't want to be left to rest.

"Myself as well," Flynn added. He was in no mood to sit and wait.

"It's settled then," Rita said, stopping Estellise from interjecting. "You'll go find this Tort, and the rest of us will wait here. I've got some research to do while we're in town."

"Rita... never mind." Judith smiled. "I'll ask you later on."

They left the shack and ventured into the main part of the city. It was still unnervingly quiet, but there were no Knights around to regard them suspiciously or recognize them. Even after almost a month of being on the run, they would still have been outlaws. Word of their 'misdeeds' and their inaccurate wanted posters would have spread like wildfire to every corner of the Empire. Everyone would be on the lookout for them. Luckily, the few scholars remaining in Aspio were much too absorbed in their research to even pay them a passing glance.

The plaza was empty, so they continued along the many winding pathways and thoroughfares into the lower levels of the city, where they had not been last time. Tiny labs were clustered together and the darkness repelled with blastia lamps.

Even Aspio had its less than reputable corners, but these streets were as empty as the ones above. Not completely empty though, since Flynn spotted a figure sitting in the opening of a dark alleyway, hooded and slumped against a wall. The sound of flies and the smell that hit him were unmistakable. Apparently, it wasn't lost on Yuri or Judith either. It didn't deter them, though.

This Krityan male hadn't been deceased for more than a few days, and his state of decay slowed by the cool depth of the city's cavern system. It had not been disease or a natural cause that took him. Rather, the large, tell tale wound to his abdomen and the small wounds to his hands spoke of resistance against a sword or similar weapon. Flynn didn't want to imagine how or why he had been so grievously injured. The ideas that came to mind were unbearably painful and too realistic.

"Is this him?"

"I'm afraid so."

Yuri sighed and with a slow swipe of his hand, closed the man's dead eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't know him personally." The way she spoke sounded cold, but no more than usual. "Although I am sad to have lost one of my brethren, we have a more important task."

Flynn knelt beside the body. "What are we looking for?"

"A bell."

He hesitated only a second before beginning to search the pockets of the corpse. He had done things far less pleasant than this, but that didn't mean that this didn't bother him. As a knight, he wielded a weapon that did things like this to people. He had dealt with the dead before. It didn't make this easier.

A prick stopped him momentarily, more out of surprise than pain, and he curled his fingers around the object. He pulled out a curved shard of glass and then another and another. Finally, he produced a gold handle with a crystal ringer hanging from it.

"Is this it?"

She took the shard from him, a brief look of worry and a flash of sadness crossing her face. "Yes. This is the guide bell to Myorzo. But why would someone do this?"

“I can think of a few reasons,” Yuri sighed, just as frustrated. “Lot of good it does us like this,"

"Rita might know what can be done to get it working."

Judith said nothing for a long moment, simply staring at the corpse.

"Judy?"

"I'm sorry. You can head back without me. I'm going to stay and perform the last rites."

Without another word, they headed back through the winding and desolate streets toward Rita's shack. Judith caught up with them a few minutes later, carrying the shards of the broken bell. When they arrived back, Rita was tearing through books from one of her many shelves, chatting a little with Estellise, and Karol was propped up against Raven who was also dozing among the piles of research that littered the mage's home. Repede was at the door waiting for them, his tail wagging slightly. There was cooking of some sort going on, and for the first time in more than a day, Flynn was hungry.

"Oh, you're back." Estellise hopped out of her seat to greet them.

"Did you have any luck?" Rita called over her shoulder as she tossed another book aside.

Judith took the fragments over to her.

"Great!" Rita huffed, slamming a book into the shelf. "Now what?"

"We were hoping that you might be able to fix it."

"I know blastia, not _musical instruments_."

"Can I take a look at it?" Karol asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What are you going to do?" the mage scoffed.

"Karol's pretty handy with tools. If anyone here can fix it, it'll be him," Yuri said, patting the boy's back.

Karol flinched just slightly, barely visible, but Flynn saw Yuri react with a little surprise. Karol took a small step away from Yuri, his whole body language changing just enough for Flynn to notice. Any praise from Yuri, any encouragement had once made Karol beam with pride. Now he seemed almost afraid. What had caused this change and why was it manifesting now?

Yuri didn't make a big deal out of it, instead dropping his hand back to his side. His fingers flexed a little, a nervous cracking of his knuckles before he put his hand on his hip.

"Fine, just don't break it."

"I won't, Rita! Geez!" He gingerly took the pieces of the bell from Judith and sat down on the floor with them. He pulled a set of tools out of his bag, laying everything out in front of him. He fiddled with the pieces, measuring them and testing their weight and looking through the glass into one of the lamps that lit the shack.

"What's cooking?" Yuri asked, sniffing the air.

"Makin' soup." Raven muttered from the pile, opening one eye.

"Well, it's burning."

"Aw hell!" He jumped up and dashed to the kitchen.

A heavy quiet settled over them and Flynn sat down in a ratty, torn up chair in the corner. Not too long afterward, sleep began to wash over him. He had hardly had a moment's rest the whole way here, and even before that. With luck, they would be able to stay the night here and he would be able to sleep without the rocking of the air and the ocean taxing his stomach endlessly.

Just as he started to drift off, an elbow was knocked against his head and he opened his eyes to find Yuri leaning over him, nudging him and attempting to pass off a bowl of soup.

"Dinner's done."

"Thanks," Flynn muttered and took the bowl. The hot food was welcome on his stomach and they all sat around eating quietly.

After the dinner mess was cleared away, they all found various spots throughout Rita's home to sleep. In rickety chairs, on piles of books, anywhere they could find to settle. This wasn't going to be most comfortable night's sleep, but it was going to be infinitely better than sleeping aboard the Fiertia, Ba'ul or no.

His weary bones found little rest in that chair, and throughout the night he drifted in and out of sleep. Was this really better than no sleep at all?

Flynn could overhear talking, two voices that waned in and out, but that he finally recognized as Rita and Judith. He pushed back the sleep from his eyes just enough to get a blurry vision of them, standing at the bookshelf were Rita had been all evening, chatting.

"So what are you looking for, Rita?" Judith leaned over the mage as she sat down, legs crossed on the floor in front of the bookshelf.

"I've got a book here somewhere that talks about something I've been wanting to check into for a while."

Judith perused the shelf a moment, crimson eyes moving deliberately. She knew what she was looking for. After a moment, she pulled a dusty, worn leather tome out of the very back of the shelf and blew on it, sending the dust flying up in a cloud. She presented it to Rita. "Would it be all right if I borrowed this?"

Rita looked at it, squinting for a second. "Ifmunft Nepmayjup's 'Discourses on Aer'? Sure, why not? That book's been here longer than I have."

"What do you mean?"

"Whoever lived here before me must have left it."

"I see...." Judith flipped through a few pages of the book.

"Good luck reading it, though. It's all full of codes that I couldn't decipher."

"Ifmunft Nepmayjup... That is Hermes' pen name."

"What? Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know for sure until just now."

"Well, he left a cryptic message in the front."

"Dedicated to my daughter. Just try and read it."

"That idiot. He leaves a challenge like that for his daughter, but he didn't even realize what sort of destruction his blastia would bring to the world." Rita huffed and shoved a book back onto the shelf. "That's it. I'll decipher that book and try to put a stop to the Hermes blastia without destroying it."

The conversation drifted back out as sleep washed over him once more. He was interested in hearing more, but the desire to sleep was overwhelming. After a momentary fight, he let it take him.

 

 


	47. Chapter 47

Author's Notes: Soozy (suspicious popsicle) did it.

* * *

 

Finding the Krityan Toth dead had unnerved him. It wasn't that he hadn't seen a dead body before. Someone had killed Toth for a reason, though, and Yuri had honestly thought that the reason may have been for the bell. No sane person would have been looking for that without knowing its purpose.

Since it had been broken, they were still struggling to fix it. Karol's ability with tools had proven to not be enough. The bell was mostly reconstructed, but the sound it made had changed. Things weren't looking good.

The same could be said about the continent of Hypinioia. They headed toward Desier, and across the sea from that continent was a large forest. There were already Imperial ships there, and the war machine they brought with them.

They touched down and entered the dark and quiet woods. The air was heavy and not a single monster could be heard creeping, and that worried Yuri. The path they took opened up to a clearing that allowed them to see up a series of rocky outcroppings and charred trees.

"What happened here?" Estelle asked, looking around.

"We're not far from Nordopolica. It's not hard to imagine the Empire coming here if they knew about it," Yuri replied.

"This was once a sacred place to the Kritya, but the holy feeling is long gone," Judith said.

"Is there no other way to Myorzo?"

"No. We have to take the bell to the highest cliff and ring it."

"And hope that it works."

"Aren't y'all a cheery bunch. So what happens if we can't open the path?" Raven asked, interrupting Yuri and Judith's back and forth.

"All of this will have been for nothing."

"That's hopeful."

The path they followed looped up around the cliffs and across rickety old bridges. It was dizzying in its number of twists and turns, ducking under old rocks and through paths formed in ancient trees. This had once been a lush forest, rich in resources, but beneath the feet of the Empire's war machines, even ancient and sacred places were trampled.

The forest was thick with burned and downed trees, allowing them to see a tunnel that lead through further up the cliffs. Once cleanly traversed paths had been turned to rubble. What may have been an easy walk once was an aggressive hike and climb now. It reminded Yuri of Mount Temza, and he could only imagine that the sight reminded Judith of the war. It wasn't easy on anyone. It had to be the hardest on her.

The tunnel was dark and cramped, but they squeezed through to the other side. It was worse on the opposite, but they didn't have a lot of time to survey it. The sharp sound of aer moving quickly drove Yuri to force the others back into the cave.

Across a hill, up on a higher cliff, a machine fired on them, the resulting blast boring a hole in the side of the mountain. It missed them, but the heat of the super dense aer still stung against him. The blast shook the cave, sending them to their knees, and showering a hail of dirt and gravel on top of them.

"What was that?!"

"It's a hoplon blastia cannon." Rita yanked her goggles down and pulled a device out of her pocket. A small display appeared before her, glyphs and cross hairs spinning across its ethereal surface. "It's charging again."

"Hey, Old Man." Yuri turned to Raven, who was crouched behind him, clutching his chest, his tan skin a shade paler and his ice blue eyes distant and empty. "Don't have a heart attack back there."

"I-I'm fine."

"Think you can hit that thing from here?"

"Of course I can. I'm the great Raven, after all." He smiled, but that worried Yuri more than it reassured him. He pulled his folded up bow from his back under his coat and opened it with a snap.

"Aim for the head of the cannon. It'll render it useless without destroying the blastia."

"You got it, Missy." He stood, drawing the bowstring taut, an arrow of energy forming between his fingers. He took a deep breath, his eyes focusing hard on his target and he released with a _twang_.

Across the landscape, it flew in an arc, and found home in the very center of the cannon's nozzle. The flow of aer stopped instantly and the lights on the machine dimmed. A figure emerged from behind it, jogging around to examine the damage. Now they were at the advantage.

The party dashed forward, taking the cliff by force and numbers, and in no time, the mage running the cannon was tied against the large and lifeless tree that shadowed the ledge. They largely ignored his shouting, providing him with a gag, and they turned the brunt of their attention to the cannon. With the purple core, there was no need to question its origin.

Rita opened the control panel and began fiddling with the settings. Her fingers flew deftly across the keys, but a loud, low buzz and a red 'x' that crossed the screen impeded her progress. She swore, muttering under her breath, and tried again. Again, it stopped her.

"Damn it!" She slammed her hands against the machine, causing the light panel to wave and fuzz out momentarily.

"What's wrong?" Flynn asked.

"He's encoded the formula! I can't break through."

"Just remove the core."

"I can't! It's not that simple with this machine. The blastia and its core are bonded by a formula."

"So you're just going to give up?" Judith asked.

"O-Of course not! I didn't say that!" Rita stomped over to the bound mage, ripping off the gag and hoisting him as high as she could by the front of his robes. "You! Give me the password to the lock!"

"I wouldn't even if I could." The mage drew his head back, sucking in air quickly. He spat at her, hitting her in the face and causing her form to tremble with anger. "You think you're so much better than all of us, Mordio! Well, you're just some stupid little girl!"

Judith had to pull Rita back before she descended on him in a fury of fire. Rita fought back briefly, but Judith mumbled something that spurred her back to the cannon. Judith took over the interrogation, planting the tip of her spear in between the man's legs. She leaned heavily against the shaft of the spear. "Now. How about that code?"

The mage started to panic. "I really don't know it. Sir Garista is very secretive about these things."

"Not what I was hoping to hear." Judith shifted, and the spear pressed inward on the mage over closer. "Try again."

"I'm telling the truth!"

"We're in trouble!" Karol called from the edge of the cliff over the sound of Repede barking.

Yuri rushed to his side. Through the tunnel they had come through, came a cluster of knights, pulling another cannon behind them. From there, the party was instantly spotted and the knights started to charge their position to take back the cliff and disarmed cannon.

Behind them, Rita was still working at a feverish pace to try and break the code. A crackle of charging energy emanated from below, and Yuri could see that the other cannon was anchored and preparing to fire.

"Hurry it up!"

"Nothing's working!"

The knights made it up the hill before the cannon finished charging and Yuri, Karol, and Flynn fought them back while Raven picked off the ones at a distance. He tried to get a shot in at the other cannon, but the knights guarding it deflected even the swiftest arrows. The intake of aer, and the release of the secondary spike anchors warned Yuri that it was ready, and the light at the end of its head grew brighter.

"Get down!" His shout came too late as the blast split the air in two, shooting across the valley.

It stopped suddenly, forced against a wall of aer and energy by Estelle. Her golden light absorbed it easily, but the force of it caused her body to waver and her knees to buckle.

"Estelle!" Yuri shouted.

"I-I'm fine!" She raised her arms once more, steadying herself, a bold and determined look in her green eyes as the arte field around her faded.

"You have to stop using your powers, Estelle," Judith said, grabbing her arm.

"I can't help it. My body moved on its own."

Yuri knocked another knight down, letting him slide down the path. "How's it coming back there, Rita? We need to get out of here!"

"Don't rush me!" She called back, and then swore again. "It's too late!"

He looked to see her preparing to cast, the field of her blastia artes glowing around her.

"Rita, what are you doing?!"

"I can't take the core out! I can't disarm it! The only option left is to destroy him!"

"But, Rita--"

"There's no time! I'd rather destroy him myself than let them misuse him any further!"

Judith was there first, and with a swing of impressive strength, crashed through the cannon. The force of her arte shattered the machine and the blastia within before Rita could finish casting.

"Judith!"

"Maybe you forgot," Judith looked at Rita over her shoulder, "But destroying blastia is _my_ burden."

The genius mage turned, flushed with anger, her arte field diminishing briefly before she turned her fury on the approaching knights and the still functioning cannon. With her flame and the three swords of Yuri, Flynn, and Karol, they cut a path through the knights while Raven kept firing off at the cannon and the knights protecting it.

It crackled again and the knights moved just in time to not be caught in the boom of the blast that echoed through the valley. The aura around Estelle began to glow again, much to her dismay, absorbing the blow. She really couldn't control it anymore, and that fact just urged them to stop the other cannon faster. Yuri cut down the knights that stood between them, as it started to charge a third time. It wouldn't get to fire again. He would see to that. Judith would, too.

She leapt with amazing speed, and came crashing down on it just as she had the first, rending it in two. The aer dispersed with the destruction of the blastia, and the remaining knights fell easily without the cannon to back them up.

The battle died down, but it was still in his veins. If there were a few knights in this ruined forest, there would be others. The party had struggled against only two of the cannons. If there were more, the results could shift out of their favor very quickly.

"Let's find that high point and hope this bell actually works." Rita said as soon as she collected herself.

"I don't wanna wait around to find out if there's more of those things," Raven added.

"Are you all right, Lady Estellise?"

"Yes. I'm fine." She seemed a little shaken and groggy, but she shook it off and they continued along the shattered path up the hills and into the scorched cliffs.

It was a taxing hike, up and around winding paths over fallen trees and bits of missing path. From this high up, the destruction of the holy forest was even more apparent. Nothing green remained for miles in this land, crushed and burnt beneath the ambition of the Empire. The spiral path below them was all that remained, charred and crumbling.

They finally reached the highest cliff, and it looked out across the last bits of land, the ivory sanded coast, and the stark blue of the Inner Ocean. Karol produced the reconstructed bell and gave it to Judith. She held it up toward the sky and struck it downward. A loud, melodic chime rang out, echoing over the hills and against the cliffs.

Their eyes scanned the skies for something of proof that all their efforts were not in vain. There was nothing at all for a long moment, save clouds. Finally, a huge, translucent blob drifted into view.

"Is that it?" Yuri asked.

"Yes. That's Myorzo, the ancestral home of the Krity--"

A shot pierced the sky, brilliant white tearing through the cloud. The sound of its boom deafened them briefly, but they could all see the light penetrate the blob, blowing it back. It started to glow, turning red, and puffing out before it exploded in flames and began to crumple.

"Krones! No!" Judith rushed forward, and Yuri caught her before she could go further than a few steps.

Her grip on his upper arms was iron as she tried for only a moment to wrench away, red eyes ever on the sky. But even she could see that her efforts at action would be in vain. Her knees gave way, but she did not fall, half slumped in his arms with tears beading in her eyes. She made a sound, a strangled sob, a scream, and hung her head so that he could see no more. He still felt the trembling that ran through her, surely a boiling mix rage and anguish that shook her through her very core.

"What was that?" Karol asked, the horror of the moment clear on his face, but Yuri had already turned his head in the direction of the shot.

Against a distant shore, like a huge, dark spot, was the Heracles, and from the look of the light off its bow, it was getting ready to fire a second time.

"The Heracles," Flynn muttered, his face grave.

From over the mountains came Ba'ul, flying as fast as he could to the falling city. The Heracles' cannon adjusted slightly and prepared to take aim again, but on the other Entelexeia this time. It fired a second later, but Ba'ul dodged it. The city hit the water, the flaming and thrashing, its translucent exterior bubbling as it started to sink. The Heracles cannon did not start charging again. Instead, the whole mobile fortress started to move.

"Where's that thing goin'?"

"They're after Krones' apathetia," Judith said, her voice shaking even though she fought to calm it.

"What do you mean?" Estelle asked, just as distressed, but more outwardly.

"Krones is the Entelexeia that holds Myorzo. Ba'ul is trying to help him, but it's already too late...."

"Tell Ba'ul that we can help." Estelle's horror turned to determination. "Maybe it's not much, but we'll do anything we can!"

Judith dropped her head away from them, covering her mouth as she choked back a sob. A small shake of her head cemented for them the true devastation here that was beyond their grasp. Myorzo was gone and likely all of its citizens. If the blast had not destroyed the whole city, the sinking would. Here, they were powerless to help.

"Judith...."

Yuri spoke up. It was going to sound callous, but he needed to be the voice of reason. "If there's nothing we can do, we need to get out of here before the knights come back."

Estelle and Karol both turned to him quickly, eyes filled with anger.

"Yuri's right," Judith said, finally pulling away from him. "There's nothing more here we can do." She took the first steps down the cliff alone on unsteady feet. Repede moved from Yuri's side to her's and walked with her, calm and quiet. They followed a few seconds later, Yuri hanging toward the back of the group.

He was angry, too. He was just better at hiding it. The Empire, Alexei, Garista had just snuffed out of the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of people, and an Entelexeia. Yuri couldn't help but think that he was the one who could have stopped this.

 

 


	48. Chapter 48

Author's Notes: I'm not dead. Fluri Month 2016 and other projects and work have just been taking a lot out of me.

* * *

 

They left the ruins of the Egothor Forest behind and made tracks for the forests of the south. It would provide them shelter from the eyes of the Empire while they waited for Ba'ul. To their knowledge, he was fleeing from the Heracles, but had not been injured in the attack that claimed Krones. From the distant glare in Judith's eyes, Flynn could tell that she and her partner were still in contact. That was at least a small glimmer of hope in a very bleak set of circumstances.

Although Judith's reception of it was cool at best, Estellise was at her side constantly to offer comfort in the form of anything she needed. She had lost a huge percentage of her people, and that fact was not lost on anyone. Even with the blaze of the campfire, the atmosphere of their camp was cold and quiet.

Repede's growling put them on edge and a sudden and fierce wind threatened to blow out their meager fire, but as it steadied, a tall and dark form came into view. It was one that Flynn recognized, and immediately pulled him and Yuri to their feet, swords drawn.

"Lady Khroma!"

"I guess Alexei sent you looking for us, then? Well, we're not going down without a fight." Yuri took his easy fighting stance, but his presence was still threatening.

Estellise added her own sword poised at the ready.

"I am not here to fight you." The Krityan woman raised her hands, showing that she held no weapons, but Flynn knew that her artes were powerful. That's what had blown them out of the palace in the first place.

"Then what are you here for?" Yuri didn't move.

"I have come to deliver you the truth. That is what you were looking for with the hopes of going to Myorzo, is it not?"

"Yes, but why would you do such a thing? You are Alexei's personal aide." Estellise's sword dropped just a fraction of an inch, but her determination had not wavered.

"I lost a dear friend in the events today. Even being his personal aide, I had no indication of his plans for Myorzo. Had I known, I would have acted sooner to stop him. I would never have let such a terrible tragedy transpire." Since the party gave no sign of trusting her immediately or backing down if she were to prove a threat, she knelt before the campfire. "Either way, I have come to give you the truth. Whether or not you believe me is up to you."

There was another tense moment that hung between them before Yuri sheathed his sword, and the others all did the same. His hand was still firmly on the hilt, but it seemed that as impetuous as he was, he was at least willing to listen for the moment.

From behind herself, Khroma produced a book sized stone tablet and set it down on the ground before her. Afterward, she folded her hands into her lap and scanned across their faces with her amber eyes. "The Kritya abandoned blastia centuries ago, but humans were not able to give it up so easily. The cores of blastia are made from crushed and reformulated apathetia."

"Wait, what? You mean that _all cores_ are made from crushed apathetia?!" Rita nearly pulled herself up off the log she had settled on.

"Yes. The cores of blastia have always been made this way. In its pure state, apathetia is much too powerful and required reconstruction in order to function properly."

A stunned silence settled on them before Raven spoke up. "Pretty interestin' how ol' Phaeroh didn't mention that part."

"Can't say I blame him," Yuri added. "Pretty uncomfortable when you think about it."

"So, the Entelexeia hate and wish to destroy the blastia because the apathetia are used in their construction." Estellise looked down at the ornamental blastia on her wrist, disgust briefly crossing her face.

"Yes."

"Why did the Kritya give up blastia?" Yuri asked. "Was there some disaster or something that it caused in the past?"

"That is the case." Khroma extended the stone tablet before her to Judith. "Use the _nageeg_ and the story handed down through the Kritya shall unfold."

"Nageeg?" Rita stared at the smooth surface of the stone, and then at Judith.

"We Kritya have an ability called 'nageeg', which will show us the memories left over in objects, provided that we know the proper incantation to bring them out," Judith explained, passing her hands momentarily over the stone and then bringing them to rest along the jagged sides.

"Say the words _City of dreams veiled in mist, reality’s extension_ and the door of history will open before you."

Judith repeated those words verbatim and the stone began to glow soft white. Across its surface, a black splotch, like ink, spread and as it moved, archaic letters and symbols were left in its trail. Several lines of it decorated the tablet before Flynn recognized the symbols for what they were. It was an ancient form of their language, long used by the Kritya. The letters were sharp and unrefined compared to those of the common language.

"What does it say?" Yuri and the others assembled behind Judith to view the movements of the tablet.

"The Kritya. Stewards of wisdom, founders of the mighty Geraios, and ancient sages. Our misbegotten wisdom has sown only the seeds of ruin. The blastia we created granted us blessings, but also blighted the aer, lifeblood of this world," Judith began and as she read, the words sunk away into the stone, replaced by others and further pictures.

The dark spot continued to move, leaving behind it crude symbols of people and monsters, and a third symbol that looked familiar.

"That's pretty creepy," Karol shuddered beside him. "Those look like that thing we fought in the Sands of Kogorh."

"It kinda does," Raven added.

"So you were right, Rita. It looks like there were disturbances in the aer in the past." Yuri pointed to a large, tentacled object that was coming into view. "Could this be the disturbance? It looks like it's trying to swallow the planet."

"It did, in fact, attempt just that," Khroma spoke for the first time in a few minutes, still watching them carefully.

Judith continued the tale as more of it appeared. "The blight grew ever stronger and brought forth a cataclysm… In our terror, we gave a name to the cataclysm: the Adephagos."

"Adephagos...." Estellise said softly, eyes fixed on the tablet.

"The world united to challenge the Adephagos, and banish the loathsome power which created it."

"Could those be the Entelexeia then?" Rita asked.

"Does look somethin' like humans and monsters fightin' together."

"With the crumbling of the Geraios civilization, the Adephagos was quelled," Khroma added.

"So with the combined efforts of the humans, the Kritya, and the Entelexeia, the aer problem was fixed."

"What's this last little bit say, Judith?"

She was quiet for a moment, but it wasn't the same as someone who paused to read. She knew what those words said, but it seemed like it was something that she didn't want to admit. "Hearing the world’s prayers, life faded from the Child of the Full Moon. The Adephagos disappeared into the void."

"What?" The sharpness of Yuri's voice betrayed his surprise.

The words stung Flynn, too, even sharper than the first time as he repeated them aloud. "The world’s prayers… Life faded from the Child of the Full Moon…."

He looked over to Estellise. Her eyes were wide and she had gone dreadfully pale.

"Our world was preserved. But the story shall remain here for generations to tell of our sin. 240th year of Asule...." Judith trailed off as the glow of the tablet faded, leaving them with only stone.

"This... This is--" Estellise started, but stopped suddenly, covering her mouth with one hand and turning away to hide her tears.

"Lady Estellise...."

"The truth of the Children of the Full Moon and their ties to the Adephagos, the world devouring calamity from the skies brought on by the over abundance of aer and the over use of blastia." Khroma received the tablet back from Judith and set it down before her again.

"But this is just a legend." Flynn was hunting for a way to make it seem like a distant possibility, but his efforts were lost.

"This is the history of the Kritya, passed down through generations. Legends are often based in fact."

Without another word and with her tears getting the best of her, Estellise dashed away from camp, into the darkness of the forest.

"Lady Estellise!" Flynn moved to follow the distraught princess, but Yuri stopped him.

"Give her a little time alone." He stood, glance shifting over to Khroma. It was hard to read whether or not Yuri believed what she told them and the evidence she brought. "So what are you going to do now that you've betrayed Alexei?"

"He does not yet know of my betrayal. I will return to his side and tell him that my search for the Child of the Full Moon has been unsuccessful." She stood also, taking a few steps back from the fire. "Time is growing dangerously short. You must act."

"I get it, I get it. We heard the same spiel from Phaeroh."

"As long as you understand." She took one last step back into the darkness and disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.

 

* * *

 

He didn't need to be reminded that their time was wearing thin. Khroma and Phaeroh's sense of urgency hadn't been lost on him. He knew that panicking wasn't going to do them any good.

Cooking usually helped to clear his mind. It was methodical when the rest of the world, himself included, was madness. But right now, it wasn't doing much to clear the muddle in his brain. It was simply a momentary distraction, but he would take what he could get.

Karol returned from collecting firewood, dropping the sticks beside Yuri before taking a look around. "Has Raven come back yet?"

"Wasn't he with you?"

"We got separated."

"He probably stopped to take a leak before coming back. The elderly often have incontinence." Yuri tried to focus on the pot rather than on Karol. He wanted to look at him. He wanted to know why the boy had been acting so strangely these past couple of weeks, but whenever he wanted to ask, he just ended up chalking it up to stress. This journey may have been fun at first, but Karol was only twelve and a lot had happened in a very short time that would have changed that for him.

That answer didn't seem to satisfy Karol, and he grumbled something and walked away to ask Flynn and Rita who were setting up the sleeping bags.

Flynn had been pacing the camp nervously. Yuri told him more than once to calm down. He was obviously worried about Estelle, but she had been gone less than a quarter of an hour or so and needed time to clear her own head after this evening's revelations. But now it was time for dinner.

"All right." Yuri stood, covering the pot. "Let's go find Estelle and the Old Man before dinner gets cold."

Repede got up from his warm spot by the fire and arched into a stretch. He padded to Estelle's pack and took a good, long sniff to get her scent and then proceeded to the tree line. His ears suddenly perked up, alert and focused on something through the trees like there was something in the distance only he could hear, and he started to whine.

"What's up, Repede?"

A blinding white light erupted through the forest, and diminished a second later.

"What the hell was that?"

Rita was quickly at Yuri's side, goggles down and analyzing the glow of the light that remained. "A blastia of some sort. Let's go."

They all rushed into the forest, Repede and Rita leading the charge.

Why was there a blastia being used in the forest? Raven didn't have one, and Estelle didn't use hers. The color of Estelle's artes were different, and Rita surely knew her signature by now with all the observations that she had made, some more scientific than others. But this worried him, and as they cleared the tree line, it only got worse.

The clearing was empty. The only thing of note that was here was a large patch of scorched, brown grass in the center. There were footprints and drag marks leading through the thick grass to the anomaly, but none leading away.

Rita paced the area, examining the difference in the grass through her goggles. "There was a warp blastia used here--" She stopped suddenly, spotting something that Yuri saw shining in the grass, too. She stooped to pick it up.

It was a flower shaped brooch of pink shell with three long, curling strands of pearls dangling from it. Yuri knew it instantly. It was what Estelle had tried to give him in Nordopolica. It was the memento of her mother. Rita passed it to him and he slipped it into his vest pocket.

A few feet from that was another object, glimmering in the grass, although much more worn with age. He grabbed it before Rita spotted it. The bronze, coin-sized medal was tarnished with age and weather. The front of it displayed the crest of Heaven's Arrow, the symbol of Altosk, and the back was engraved with the name _Raven_.

"Raven's Comrade Crest...." Karol said from beside him, peering over Yuri's arm.

Yuri's heart sunk, settling on the fear and worry bubbling in his stomach as he curled his fingers around the medal, pressing it into his palm. Had they been captured? Had the Imperial Knights ambushed the two of them?

"Where did the blastia warp to?" Judith asked, expression showing that she also suspected the worst.

"Warp blastia can't travel over long distances, especially carrying more than one person, so they didn't get very far." Rita followed a trail invisible to the rest of them as an arc into the sky. "Looks like they ended up near a mountain not far from here. I think there's a building or something there."

Judith folded her arms over her chest. "The Ancient Shrine of Baction."

"But why there?"

"The only building known on the whole continent of Hypionia. Of course the Empire would be interested in it," Yuri said sharply.

"So you already suspect the Empire?" Flynn asked, looking at him narrowly.

"Yeah, and why not? We know that they're here and they're after Estelle."

"Why would they take Raven though?" Karol asked.

"Who knows. But we should get moving to catch up with them."

"We'll have to go on foot," Judith added. "Ba'ul's still in hiding."

"That's fine. We'll be more discreet this way."

His feet couldn't carry him there fast enough, but neither could the Entelexeia, or any warp blastia. His friends had been taken and he wasn't prepared to stand for that. If Alexei had gotten a hold of Estelle, they were in trouble. Terca Lumireis was in trouble. There was no telling how he planned to misuse her power, but Yuri knew that whatever extent would be deadly.

 

 


	49. Chapter 49

 

The campfire and their appetites quickly snuffed out, they traversed the forests of Hypinioia to the mountain that Rita had tracked the signal of the warp blastia to. The warships nearby were no surprise. Neither were the hoplon cannons fixed around the ancient building there. What did surprise Yuri was the presence of a large creature flying around the shrine, dodging cannon fire before ducking into an opening in the mountain behind the shrine.

"Astal...." Judith muttered sadly, but quickly turned her attention to the shrine as they approached.

As soon as Astal disappeared, the cannons came to rest and Yuri was once more surprised to find that they were unmanned. In fact, there was only Alexei, standing at the door covered in a glowing green energy. Beside him, was a large bubble of red aer, and within, two familiar figures; Estelle and Ioder.

The energy across the door started to fizzle and fade as Estelle neared it, and the aer around her darkened. She was screaming like she was in pain, but Alexei only seemed to urge her further.

"Estelle!" He called out, and Alexei turned, but Yuri was ready with his sword.

A broad smirk crossed Alexei's face and he spoke in a voice that was chilling. "Well, if this little group of ragtag troublemakers hasn't grown."

"Commandant, stop this foolishness! Have you lost all reason?!" Flynn stepped up, sword in hand, but lowered. It was laughable that after everything he was still trying to reason with Alexei. He had trusted him for so long, he must have had some small shred of hope that there was a chance of stopping him without violence. "Let Their Highnesses go and stop this madness!"

"Pitiful worms," Alexei sneered. "How about you show them a bit of what you're capable of, Estellise?"

"No, Alexei... please...."

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as he raised one arm, an apathetia floating in the palm of his hand. It began to glow, then the orb around Estelle, and her pained screams began again.

A violent wind picked up, nearly sweeping Yuri off his feet. It crashed them into the ground. With a groan, the others each collapsed, the force of the aer robbing them of their willpower, but Yuri fought the crushing force. He had to save Estelle, Ioder, and Raven. The fate of the world was dependent on them. _They_ were dependent on them.

The force grew greater, causing his bones to creak, and the pressure in his head caused his vision to blur. He fought still, even as the pressure made it feel as though his head was a watermelon, preparing to be smashed.

"E-Estelle!" He had to hold out.

Yuri's vision blurred and darkened and his head hit the ground with a sickening thud. She was still screaming, calling out to them to wake up, to run, to save themselves, but they couldn't move. Finally, that sound, too, disappeared.

* * *

 

He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard footsteps approach. A deep voice hummed in displeasure and kept moving, followed by a second set of feet, four of them, heavy, clawed, and beastly.

The darkness rolled back a little, and Yuri could, for a moment, make out shapes and shadows and patches of color. He fought to blink, to clear his eyes, his head pounding with the pressure lingering on every inch of his skin. After a few seconds, he could see a little better, although his body was still too heavy to move.

He could see Duke, his strange sword in hand, walking to the door of the shrine. Beside him was the dragon from the Weasand of Cados. They appeared to be talking, but he couldn't hear them. The dragon nodded to Duke and took flight, disappearing into the skies as Duke raised his sword.

The red and silver blade began to glow, and an arte field spread out around Duke, shimmering gold as it spun. He raised the sword higher into the air and the seal across the door dissipated, and he was allowed entrance to the shrine.

The weight of the aer around them lifted, and after a moment of lying face down in the dirt and the sparse grass, Yuri was able to struggle to his feet. The others all woke, too, groaning and aching from the force of the aer that was held against them.

"They made it into the shrine," Rita said, approaching the door.

"Duke was kind enough to leave it open for us," Yuri replied. "Let's go. Estelle needs us. I'm sure Raven's in there, too, just waiting for us to rescue his sorry ass."

 

* * *

 

The pressure still lingering in his head and limbs didn't make the hour of traversing the interior of the shrine any easier. All the rooms had looked the same, save the few they had passed through with holes in the ancient floor, or those that had statues of the creature Judith called Astal in them. They entered another of these rooms. According to the map that Karol was keeping, they had already been through once, and Rita wasn't the only one getting frustrated. They were getting nowhere fast.

They paused to get their bearings and Flynn found Judith staring sadly up at the statue in the center of the room.

"Are you all right?"

She smiled, but it seemed forced. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" She could be just as cryptic as Yuri.

"It's nothing." He changed the subject. "This is an ancient Krityan shrine, correct?"

"Yes. It was built during the Geraios civilization to honor Astal, the sacred guardian of this land."

"You mean that creature we saw outside?" Karol poked his head over the map.

"Yes. Astal is an Entelexia, although he is not as old as Phaeroh."

"So this was built to worship him...." Rita said, circling the statue curiously.

"It was not even a few hundred years ago when some of the Entelexeia were worshiped as gods. But that has long since changed."

Yuri didn't seem to care much for the history lesson. He was spending his time pacing the room, no doubt going over the map in his head and worrying over the state of things further on in and the people there.

"We should keep moving," Yuri called from the northern most of the room's entrances. "There's got to be something we're missing." He and Repede left the room and the others all followed.

North of the statue room was one with only the single entrance they had come in and nothing more. Why he picked this room to enter once more was beyond Flynn.

"Hey, Judy. Can you use that power of yours in here?"

"You mean the nageeg? I don't see why not." She moved to the furthest wall, placing both hands on it and leaning her forehead against it. "Shrine of Holy Astal, open the way."

The wall began to glow just as the tablet had and the inky blackness appeared once more, a larger splotch of it. It formed a dark archway in the enter of the wall. As the light and the darkness dispersed, the pattern formed left a very real and corporeal archway that led to a flight of stairs leading downward.

"Wow, Judith. Why don't you use your power more often?" Karol asked.

"Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean that I don't use it."

The doorway took them down a near endless flight of stairs, and when they finally touched down in the basement, they passed through a long series of statue rooms. The broken visages of Astal stared down at them as they moved through the corridors, and finally to a large door. A red seal covered this one just as it had the entrance to the shrine and they were at an impasse once more.

A gruff growl from Repede alerted them to another person in the room, and the dog turned first, knife clenched between his teeth. Yuri turned and didn't appear surprised.

"I was wondering when we'd run into you."

From the path they had followed, emerged Duke, his sword in hand, approaching them slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to save our friends. What about you?"

"That is no concern of yours."

"If it has anything to do with Alexei and what he's doing here, then it is."

"I wonder what Phaeroh saw in you."

"I don't know, but for right now, this is our problem and we'll fix it," Yuri replied, his body showing signs of being ready for a fight if necessary.

"How do you plan to proceed? His power has nearly crushed you once before."

"How about lending me that sword of yours? It opened the lock outside. I'm sure it'll open this one, too." Yuri was bold. "I'm guessing Alexei's already back there."

"Yes," Duke replied.

"He used Estelle's power to force this lock open, too," Judith said.

"If he keeps using up her power like this then... Grr! We have to stop him now!" Rita turned away, the truth almost too awful for her to bear.

"And what if you cannot stop him?" Duke asked, looking at the sword in his hand. “An unstable Child of the Full Moon is a problem that cannot be ignored.”

"We won't know what we can do until we try. That's the path we've chosen."

“You say this knowing how great a threat her existence poses?”

“Don't peg all the world's problems on one girl. She might be bumbling and naïve, but Estelle is one of our own.”

"I see." He stared a little longer at the sword before handing it to Yuri. "I will lend you Dein Nomos for the time being. But if you are unable to fulfill your task, then I will be forced to take action."

Flynn didn't like the sound of that at all, but they had no choice here. They could be only feet away from Alexei. Yuri accepted before anyone, including Flynn, could voice their apprehensions and probably for the best. Yuri received the sword, watching the light play off its blade. The red color it had in Duke's hand drained away to a dark purple.

"Calm your mind and focus on the seal. Dein Nomos will do the rest." Duke turned to leave.

Yuri had already generated the same glowing field that they had seen before. His focus narrowed as the glyph spun around him. The mystic lock on the door moved with the flow of aer, and diminished in a shower of sparks and the power surrounding Yuri dissipated.

"That's amazing! It works similarly to the Rizomata Formula. This blade can--"  
"Later, Rita." Yuri lowered the sword. "We've got work to do." He dropped his hand onto the handle of the ancient door, now unsealed and forced it open.

The inner chamber was massive. The lower foyer where they stood was dotted with lights, eternally burning candles and a short set of steps led up to an upper platform, where Alexei stood. Behind him was the ball of aer with Estellise and Ioder within, and before him, struggling with the last traces of his life, was the Entelexeia Astal. Aer was quickly leaving his injured form instead of blood and Estellise was begging Alexei to stop.

"Dear Princess, won't you end this filthy beast's suffering?”

Her eyes grew wide as her hands started to glow. "N-No! Alexei! Please don't make me do this !"

"At least offer the dying a little comfort," he snickered as Estellise's light grew slowly brighter.

"No! Astal, I'm sorry!"

The traitorous Commandant dropped his foot onto the Entelexeia's horned head, rolling it to the side to look him in the eye. "I expected you to be more a challenge, Astal. I am incredibly disappointed. I thought that you Enetelexeia were supposed to be the masters of this world."

_Wretched human...._

"To think that you would die here, in the place mean to worship you. You were once seen as a _god_!"

Estellise's glow grew brighter and brighter, surrounding the Entelexia even as she fought to hold herself back, to stop.

"Alexei, stop!" Judith started to dash forward, but with a blinding white light, all that was left of Astal was an apathetia in Alexei's hand.

"It's much smaller than I expected, but it will do." He turned his attention to them finally, cold and unconcerned as if they were certainly no match for him. "I see that you managed to survive. What a pity. But this decrepit shrine will be your grave, too!"

Estellise called out to them, "Everyone! Please, run!"

The aer around Estellise and Ioder darkened again, and as soon as the aer in the room started to grow heavy, Yuri was ready, letting the sword Dein Nomos cancel out the effect.

"I see. It's amusing that the sword I've been scouring Terca Lumireis for for ten years finally reappears. But I no longer need it. With the Child of the Full Moon, the apathetia, and my knowledge, Dein Nomos is simply a useless relic of a crumbling Empire."

"Let them go!"

"Ah, Mordio. Surely you understand that tools are happiest when they're being used for the purpose they were born for. Just like blastia. Even a poison like the Child of the Full Moon can be a blessing in my hands."

"Estelle and Ioder are not _blastia_! They're people!"

"Oh yes. Speaking of the young prince Ioder...." Effortlessly, Alexei reached into the aer field and grabbed Ioder by the collar of his coat. He pulled him out, and no longer supported by the aer, Ioder collapsed. "He's served his usefulness. His power was much weaker than I had anticipated. But now he can meet his end here with the rest of you."

Alexei threw Ioder's crumpled body down the stairs, and Flynn dropped his sword without a second thought to catch the prince. He stumbled a step underneath the sudden addition of weight to his arms, but caught his footing and set Ioder down on the marble floor behind them.

Flynn desperately checked his vitals for the slightest hope, the smallest sign that he was still alive. Ioder's heartbeat was weak, but it was there. His breathing was labored, but calming and he appeared to only be unconscious. He was alive.

"I'm done playing games. Time for you to die."

Flynn turned just in time to see Alexei raise his arm and to catch sight of an Imperial uniform and hear the march of metal boots on the time worn stone.

He had seen before the man who stood before them now, sword raised and at the ready to defend Alexei and the Empire. The cut of his orange and white uniform betrayed his rank as a captain of the Knights. His lank brown hair hung over one of his ice blue eyes and his face was cold and apathetic.

"First Captain of the Imperial Knights, Schwann Oltorain. Ready to do battle."

Yuri stopped dead in his tracks, Dein Nomos trembling in his grip. Repede growled beside him, an action to which Schwann smirked.

"I guess I can't fool the nose of this dog." That voice was familiar, although the way it spoke was different. Each word was pronounced perfectly, as opposed to the easy slang and slur it usually spoke in.

It took a few seconds for the others to catch on, but Yuri and Repede knew instantly. Flynn had never seen him so frozen in fear and hesitation. It _scared_ him.

"R-Raven...." was the only word that came out of Yuri's stunned mouth.

"Raven, is that really you?" Karol pushed past Rita to get a better look and was met only with a stoic look. Karol's face displayed more readily everything that Yuri had to be feeling.

"I'm afraid that I don't know anyone by that name."

"What the hell are you doing, Old Man?!"

"I'm doing my job as a Captain of the Imperial Knights. And that means I must eliminate you. Now prepare to fight." He didn't wait before charging them, immediately forcing Yuri to parry his attack.

Yuri didn't stay frozen much longer, instead forcing Schwann back. His fighting was suddenly much different, as if something inside of him had snapped. His movements were wild and erratic, his focus all over the place. This was a side of Yuri's fighting that Flynn had never seen. Normally, his focus was as sharp as his blade, each movement placed with purpose. This was sloppy. Karol, though, had lost the will to fight. Even as Flynn and the others moved to Yuri's aid, Flynn could see the boy out of the corner of his eye, his face a mix of pain and sadness at the sight of the two people he cherished the most fighting. Flynn could almost see the bonds of brotherhood that held them together slipping away.

"Karol, we need your help!" Rita called, panting for breath after firing off a series of spells.

"I... I can't! I can't fight Raven!"

Yuri didn't try to reason with either Karol or Raven. Perhaps his reason was completely lost and he was just lashing out wildly at the traitor.

Before Flynn knew it, Alexei and Estellise were gone, and the five of them were struggling against the renowned war veteran. He didn't hold back, still showing no indication of knowing or caring about Yuri, Karol, or anyone else.

Flynn felt so stupid. How had he not seen this before? There were hints everywhere. Mt. Temza, the Weasand of Cados, the Egothor Forest. No one could have guessed that the lovable oaf of an old man, second in command to Don Whitehorse of the Union, the caring adopted sibling of Karol and Yuri was truly an Imperial spy, much less the First Captain. Karol couldn't believe it, and Yuri didn't want to believe it. But even that didn't keep him from fighting with every ounce of his strength, a feat that Flynn had only seen a few times before, and was awestruck by every time.

Schwann was fast, and his attacks were brutal. He did his best to keep the others from firing off artes or spells. He moved with the strength and fluidity that he had as Raven, but there was a deep enmity that was far different from Raven's playfulness. Every time he moved, Yuri was there, any restraint he had left gone, and all of his strength and fury out on full display.

Yuri took hit after devastating hit, as long as it gave him the tiniest opportunity to get an opening on Schwann, but his defenses were impeccable. Without Estellise or Karol to support with healing artes, Flynn found himself constantly pausing to cast, and then becoming the target of the attack. After the first few interruptions, Repede began to run interception for him, drawing Schwann's attention long enough for him to get off a First Aid to the particularly struggling members of their party.

Even when Schwann's focus was elsewhere, Yuri's was not. Flynn couldn't tell if he was really out to destroy Schwann or just knock some sense into him. Schwann had the definite advantage. He saw all of Yuri's openings, knowing when Yuri would use what strike or arte, when he would feint and when he would pause to recover after a flurry. He aimed for weak spots and even Yuri's experience was no match for his.

The five of them started to wear him down, a little at a time, one arte after another. Combined against them, Schwann couldn't stand alone for long. His movements slowed as he struggled to keep up, his breathing getting heavier with each swing. Yuri could see the fighting starting to bear down on him and moved in for another full frontal strike.

Schwann blocked, but his muscles went lax and he dropped the sword. The still wild Yuri saw the opening given to him. He pulled back just enough to turn his sword, and struck upward across Schwann's chest.

A pulsing red light blinded them. Like the beat of a heart it receded and grew again, softer this time, and finally Flynn could see the horror before him.

"Heh. I thought for sure a hit like that woulda taken this cursed body out." Schwann ripped away the torn bit of his uniform and crumpled to his knees. In his chest, the glow continued where his heart should have been.

"Is that... a blastia? In his chest?" Rita asked, stopping mid spell.

"It's... his heart," Judith replied. "Or at least a blastia to replace it."

"The original was lost in the war ten years ago," Schwann shrunk into himself, letting his sword come to rest across his lap. He hung his head, as if ashamed.

Yuri had paused, sword still in hand and ready to continue even though the fight seemed to have completely left Schwann. He was cautious, and Flynn couldn't blame him.

"You mean, during the Great War?" Karol asked, taking a few cautious steps into the battle field. He was much more concerned for Schwann's condition than Yuri was.

"I died back then. But Alexei saw fit to give me my life back."

"So that is a Hermes blastia also," Judith said.

"But if that's the case, why didn't Ba'ul recognize it?" Rita asked.

"I imagine that's because it's not powered by aer, but by my own life force."

"A blastia powered not by aer, but vitality? That's impossible...."

A loud rumble and a crash caused Flynn to turn toward the door. It was now blocked off with a cascade of debris from the floor above. "What was that?"

"That would be Alexei. He intends to bury you all."

"Wait. Even with you in here?" Flynn asked.

"He couldn't pass up the chance to get rid of that sword now that it's not any use to him anymore. Looks like it's finally the end for me." Everything Schwann did and said portrayed that he had just given up completely. Yuri wasn't going to stand for that.

Yuri grabbed Schwann by the front of his torn uniform, shaking him roughly. "Are you just going to lay down and die?! Was everything to this point just some joke to you?! Just an act?! What about Gramps?!"

Schwann wrapped his hand around Yuri's wrist and squeezed hard enough to make him let go. "Stupid kid. What do you know?"

Flynn had to pull Yuri back before he dove at Schwann to finish the job himself. "Yuri, just let it go. We have to find a way out of here."

Yuri ripped away from him just as abruptly and turned his back on all of them. He stormed to the door, throwing aside debris, but there were pieces that even the strength of his rage couldn't budge. Flynn helped but their strengths combined weren't enough to move the largest slab of ceiling that was jammed firmly in front of the door.

"Outta the way, brats." Schwann pulled him back, but Yuri moved away from the touch meant for his shoulder.

He put his hands on the slab, planting his feet firmly against the floor.

"Raven, what are you going to do?" Karol asked from the back of the group.

The pulsating glow in his chest grew brighter, stark red light against the stone. "Blast Heart!" The light burst forth from the orb embedded in his chest, and pierced the slab of stone. It shattered, falling into rubble at their feet.

Above them, the rest of the building let out a creak as it settled, rumbling from the furthest reaches of the shrines telling them that they didn't have long to get out of there. Another loud crunch above them caused Flynn to turn his eyes up to the ceiling. It was crumbling, large portions of it falling down toward them quickly.

Unable to move in time, unsure of what to do, he flinched, curling into himself and bracing for an impact that never came.

"Get out of here." Schwann's strained voice reached their ears and when Flynn opened his eyes, he found the captain holding up with amazing strength the section of ceiling that had only a moment before been poised to crush them. His heart was straining, glowing brightly still, and the stress of it was causing a wound on his head to bleed down his face.

"Raven!"

"If you use your blastia like that--" Rita'd concern was quickly cut off.

"Get out of here!" He repeated. "I can't keep this up forever."

"Raven...." Karol's voice was nearly pleading.

"Alexei's headed to the capital, where he plans to implement that final stages of his scheme. I'll leave it to you kids from here."

Yuri kicked the door in, sending it shattering against a far wall, seemingly untouched by Raven's act, and pulled Karol through without another word. He reached back quickly to grab Rita, and was followed by Flynn, who had scooped up Ioder, then Repede, and Judith bringing up the end. He paused, looking at Raven with icy wrath in his charcoal eyes.

Schwann stumbled a little, the weight of the ceiling bearing on him as the glow in his chest began to dim. Karol turned back to the door, preparing to plead with Schwann once more.

"Let's go," Yuri commanded.

"Yuri, what about Raven?"

"I said move!"

Another rumble, the building shuddering in the weight of its own destruction, sent them running from the interior temple up the stairs revealed to them by Judith's nageeg. The stairs were crumbling beneath their feet as they ran, and Repede led them through the maze of rooms on the floor above. The decrepit floor was worse now, but they scrambled through the building that was falling apart around them. Just as they cleared the front door, stumbling breathless and aching onto the grass surrounding the building, it collapsed completely.

"So that idiot was one of us after all...." Rita muttered, fingers gripping the grass tightly in an attempt to hide her anger.

"R-Raven...." Karol was sobbing, unable to hold back the tears. "Why?"

Yuri stood and shook the laborious run off. His face was stony cold like it had been in Dahngrest during the Don's death, but his eyes wavered, almost to the point of welling, but any tears that might have fallen were forced back. He had every reason to be angry and sad, but he bottled it all up again.

"Ba'ul says that the Heracles has left the area." Judith bore a look of sadness, but was otherwise calm as she communicated with her partner.

"It's like he said. Alexei's headed for the capital. The Heracles would be the fastest way to get there," Flynn replied, trying to get Ioder into a position where he could carry him with ease.

"We don't have any time to waste. We've still got to save Estelle." Yuri's grip on Dein Nomos tightened. It seemed to be all he could do to keep himself together.

"Oh, hafe I missed za festivties? Vhat a shame." Yeager 's voice alerted them to his sudden presence, walking up the path through the trees as calmly as if nothing happened.

"What the hell do you want?" Rita asked, standing suddenly and stiffly.

"I merely came to see vhat was going on here, but it appears as doe I am too late. Tis a pity."

"We don't have time to mess around right now." Yuri turned his stormy glare on Yeager, making it very quickly known that he wasn't in the mood for playing. "I'll deal with you another day."

"Oh my, how frightening. I suppose zat I don't vant to end up like Ragou."

"What are you talking about?" Karol managed to pull himself up off the ground, wiping his reddened eyes.

Yuri was tight-lipped, his eyes widened in horror. His dark secret was suddenly coming back to haunt him.

"I believe zat zey found his body somevhere near Heliord. A terrible murder, it appears." Yeager's eyes never left Yuri's glare, smirking at his stunned expression.

"Yuri, what is he talking about?"

"I suppose he never told you, leibechen." His smirk widened, nearly ear to ear. "Zank you so much for getting him out of the vay, Yuri. I don't know how I can repay zat excellent job you did cutting him down in cold blood. It vas magnificent."

Karol turned to Yuri, looking for a denial, looking for something, anything, other than the anger and shock that Yuri was wearing. His secret was out, laid bare for the one person he never wanted to know, the one person he had been trying so hard to protect, to keep in the dark about the blood on his own hands and the blood that stained this world. All of his hard work slipped away, and Karol just started shaking. He didn't want to believe, but Yuri couldn't deny the truth.

"Yuri...."

"You're next, Yeager." The tone of his voice was cold and sharp and restrained. He was fighting so hard to keep everything bearing down on him inside. He couldn't keep this up. Yuri was only human. Flynn had seen that.

"Are you going to stop us or not?" Judith asked, holding her spear against one shoulder. She wasn't the only one ready to fight.

"Oh not at all. By all means." Yeager swept aside in a flourish of a bow and held his arm out parallel the path in a motion of allowing them to pass.

"We need to get to the Heracles and fast," Flynn said, trying to use the urgency of the situation to break up the tension that was hanging in the air. They didn't have the time to waste, even though he knew that Yuri and Karol would need to talk after this. The air between them wasn't going to be cleared easily. "Can Ba'ul take us?"

"He said yes. We'll just have to be careful. If we get too close, it could fire on us, but he has an idea. He's on his way."

A warble above seconds later got everyone's attention, and with Yeager still unwilling to attempt to stop them, they boarded Ba'ul and the Fiertia to pursue the Heracles.

 


	50. Chapter 50

Author's Note: Oh my gods it's been forever since I've updated, but I'm trying to get better about keeping up a schedule. If you follow my tumblr, you know that a lots been going on, but the good news is that a lot of things should be updating in the next few days! Thank you everyone for sticking with me and reading while I've been nothing but radio silence.

* * *

 

From Hypinioia, they headed straight across the Inner Ocean toward Zaphias, looking out for the Heracles as they went, but any peace they might have expected aboard the Fiertia was non-existent. Yuri had been dreading the day when he would have to tell Karol who he really was and just how bloodstained his hands were. The cold heaviness in his stomach only made him feel worse.

"What did Yeager mean back there, Yuri?" Karol looked at him as if he already knew the truth and was only waiting for Yuri to elaborate. The boy was no doubt still shaken in the wake of Raven's betrayal and death. Yuri was too, even if he didn't show it. It rocked him to the very core.

"Let's talk about this in the cabin." He couldn't keep hiding this. It was impossible now.

"Why? Are you afraid of everyone knowing?"

If Flynn, Judith, and Rita had been paying attention to the conversation, they all turned away, leaving Yuri stranded to deal with this on his own. This was his burden.

After a standoffish moment of getting glared down by Karol, they moved into the cabin, shutting the door securely behind them. Yuri knew the others wouldn't intrude, but he needed a barrier between them and him. Karol's back was turned to him, and Yuri had never felt more distant from the boy in his whole life.

"You killed Ragou, didn't you?"

A metallic taste, sickening like blood, filled his mouth. Yuri had never wished for death before. This was a terrible, heavy, sinking sensation, but he felt like he'd rather die than have to confess his crimes to Karol. _Anything but this,_ he begged, but he knew that he had to endure. It was too late now.

"Yes."

"Why? He should have been punished by the law."

Yuri didn't have an explanation to satisfy Karol, so he kept quiet.

"How many more people?"

Yuri gave names, dates, and places, listing for Karol all of those who fell to his blade in the course of five years. The angry shaking in the boy's shoulders grew harder with each word.

"You've been lying to me my whole life?! What about my parents? Did they really die in the war, or did you kill them, too?!"

The boy's unrestrained words where like a thousand swords running Yuri through. He could hear a tremble of tears in Karol's enraged voice that only made those swords sharper and stronger. Nothing in Yuri's whole life had been this hard.

"You killed the Don and Raven, too! You're a monster!"

He couldn't speak. There was no defense for this and even a thousand years wouldn't have prepared him for this pain.

"You're heartless!"

He wished he was.

" _I hate you!_ "

Something inside of Yuri suddenly stopped, as if it had broken beneath the weight of the cold truth and hot, raw emotions. He wanted to think that Karol didn't mean that, that he was just upset after everything that had happened. But it was as true as the list of crimes Yuri had committed. Karol had every reason and every right.

"I'm not asking you to accept what I've done."

"Leave me alone."

Wordlessly, he granted Karol's command and left him alone in the cabin that had become very small suddenly. Repede slid in after him with a promise to comfort Karol, to try to make things right, but Yuri didn't have much in the way of hope. The cool ocean breeze across the deck was no comfort either, and Yuri found himself cold, bare, and raw, with his dark secret laid out in the open for all to see. Even if they had not intended to eavesdrop, there was no doubt from the way that none of them looked at him, they had all heard the conversation through the thin wooden walls of the cabin. If they hadn't they were all smart enough to guess what was said.

Thoughts and regrets took the place of those spiny words, and Yuri was suddenly desperate. If he was left alone to these things, the things he had done, the dark and thorny path he had chosen and the weight of Karol's judgment, he would go mad. With his partner trying to handle Karol as best as the dog could, he needed something, anything, anyone to distract him.

"Yuri, is everything all right?"

His prayers were answered in the form of Flynn, who was standing alone and tending to some rigging at the rear of the deck. When Yuri looked him in the eyes, he felt like Flynn could see right through him, just like he had in Dahngrest, and there was no hiding this.

He grabbed Flynn by the collar and felt him brace for the impact of a fist in his face, but Yuri had other plans. He slammed Flynn against the well of the rudder and crushed his lips against Flynn's. An unbearably hot and rough kiss followed before Flynn wrenched away from him. Yuri pulled him back, shoving him harder this time.

"Cut it out!" Flynn pushed back stronger the second time, face red with either embarrassment or anger. Yuri didn't care which. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, those blue eyes never wavering from Yuri's glare. "What's wrong with you?

Why Flynn? Why did things always have to come back to Flynn? Why was he so attractive and yet so intolerable? Why had their paths crossed at all? Why was he so stupid, so naive? And why did Yuri suddenly want him so badly that it ached? Anything to block out everything else threatening to drown him. He didn't care anymore about the deal they made outside of Heliord. _My freedom for a night._ None of that mattered. He just wanted the screaming in his head to stop and he could get something of a release out of Flynn one way or another.

"Sleep with me."

"Y-Yuri!" His face went a shade redder.

Yuri repeated himself. After everything, after seeing what Yuri was really like, maybe Flynn found himself disgusted. Yuri didn't blame him.

"No." The answer came firm.

"Then fight me."

"Yuri...."

"Fuck me or fight me!" (A/N Bonus reference to Suspicious Popsicle's /Fight or Flight/.)

Flynn turned his back to him and Yuri hated that. Before he could take his rage out on him for that, Flynn spoke. "You should get some rest. You've gone through a lot lately."

"Shut up."

"How much longer can you bear a burden like this before you fall apart?"

The desire to fight, or anything else, fizzled out of him, and he was left merely standing there as Flynn moved on to his duties on the other end of the ship. His legs collapsed beneath him, knees hitting the deck loudly. He wanted to stand, but couldn't. He wanted to tear the whole ship apart with his bare hands, but he barely had the strength enough to lift them.

Those words and thoughts threatened to consume him, like a beast of his own creation. He had never regretted his actions before. It had been the path he chose, but now, that path was drifting into darkness. He had never wished that things could have been different, but now all he had was doubt.

An hour of flight did little to clear his head of the muck of guilt and self-doubt toiling there. He had since sat down by the rudder of the Fiertia, making himself as small as possible and no one bothered him. He was fine with that. He didn't need their judgments of him either. Long ago, he had told himself that he didn't care what the others would think, and it was still true. Flynn had been the first to find out his dark secret, and judged him harshly for it. Estelle was softer and kinder about it, and although she disapproved, she didn't fear him. He did not know yet how Rita and Judith felt and he wasn't sure that he wanted to. Karol's judgment, though, had been a burden like he had never felt, like he was trying to shoulder the weight of a crumbling world.

But Yuri couldn't let it break him. There was still so much he needed to do.

The disappointment and pain didn't wear away, lingering so heavy in him. He couldn't go on like this. He needed a distraction, something to focus his mind on and Flynn had proven to be no help there.

Yuri took that hour to calm down and focus. There were things that he couldn't do right now and things that he could. He had always moved forward, one small step at a time and that hadn't changed now. That's what he'd had to do after the Don's death. That's what he had always done and that's what he was going to do now.

Their party had dwindled from eight to six, and he had no idea how many of them were still interested in fighting. They all had shown interest in saving Estelle, but a lot had changed since the fight with Schwann. They now had the young Imperial prince, Ioder, in their care, although he was still unconscious from his extended ordeal. Supplies were low and tensions were running high and Yuri was stuck with only one thing in mind that kept him from wallowing in guilt and self-doubt: Save Estelle. Her fate, and that of the whole world, was at stake right now if they didn't catch up to Alexei and stop him from abusing her power. That would be his focus.

He stood, reinforced in his actions for the time being, and set his eyes on the horizon. It wouldn't be long until they found the Heracles.

 

 

 


	51. Chapter 51

Flynn was still unsure about what the plan was once they found the hulking mass of the ship. They could easily be fired upon and knocked out of the sky. How on earth were they going to stop it, or even get close enough to board it?

He had been mulling over those thoughts when Judith signaled that the Heracles had been spotted off the portside bow. They all rushed to the bow, including Yuri, who had been avoiding the others for well over an hour now after his confrontation with Karol. He seemed much calmer than the last Flynn had seen of him, although there was still a strange tension hanging around him. Right now, there was nothing that could be done about that. They were on a mission.

"So, what's the plan?" Rita asked. "That thing has so many cannons that there's no way that we could disable them all."

"Ba'ul says that he thinks he can stop the Heracles temporarily," Judith replied.

"How?" Yuri's gaze scanned the ship. They were still thankfully far enough away to be out of the line of fire for the time being. "If he gets too close, they'll start firing."

"Let's just trust him and find out."

Flynn liked the sound of that plan even less than everyone else did.

Judith moved over to the rigging hanging from Ba'ul's mouth and looked up to him. She tugged slightly at one of the dangling ropes, appearing to check for its strength and then turned back to them, rope still in hand. "Everyone grab a line and brace yourselves."

He barely had a second to process what he heard before Judith shoved a rope in his face. He looped it tight around one hand and was as ready as he was ever going to have the chance to be when he felt the entirety of the ship _fall_.

Ba'ul dropped the ship with a plop into the Inner Ocean and flew off unburdened toward the Heracles. As he grew closer, he opened his mouth and a bright light came out. When he was just within range, and the Heracles' cannons all turned to him, their lights shining, he shot a huge ball of flame at the giant ship. The legs of the ship staggered and buckled, sinking down as the ship halted. Its numerous decks were charred and smoking, and the majority of its metal cannons appeared wilted from the force of the heat.

The Entelexeia flew back, just as swift, and deftly grabbed the Fiertia's rigging in his mouth once more.

"He's going to pull alongside and we're going to jump on. We have to hurry, because we'll only have a few seconds so that Ba'ul can make it out of the firing range before the main cannon charges up enough to hit him," Judith explained.

As they neared the Heracles, they all took to the railings, still clinging to their lifelines and preparing to jump. They were within range of the deck for only a matter of seconds before Ba'ul began to turn and they were forced to jump onto one of the singed decks.

Flynn's footing slipped as he left the railing of the Fiertia, but he managed to scramble onto the deck above him with the rest of the party and they watched very briefly as Ba'ul sped off with the ship.

The decks of the Heracles were numerous, spiraling rickety and haphazard paths over the entire exterior. Even from the lower deck where they landed, they could see a myriad of cannons equipped at its sides and the robotic sentries that patrolled them. Judith quickly located a port of entry into the depths of the ship for them, a large grate in the side where waste was spilling out. Between Yuri and Flynn, they popped open the grate. Hunching as they walked through the pipe, they ended up inside.

He didn't know what he had been expecting when they entered the Heracles, but it wasn't what he found.

The interior walls were not the hard, metallic substance that one would expect of a heavily armored battleship, but were rather red and white striped, forming high arcs, the surface of which was covered in a craggy layer of blue-green rock crystal. The stairway platform they landed on was midway through the ship, overlooking numerous floors below it that descended into darkness, and the many floors above it that reached as far as the ceiling the disappeared above them. The air was sickeningly warm and heavy.

"So, where are we going?" Rita asked.

"Alexei's most likely at the bridge," Flynn replied, thinking through his moderate technical knowledge of ships that he had gained from being on them.

"Six floors up we go then," Judith said.

"Say, Judy. How do you know so much about the Heracles? You even knew its name when we first saw it." Yuri said the statement that had been also on Flynn's mind these past few moments.

From between her breasts, Judith pulled a folded up square of parchment paper and opened it a little with one hand, presenting to them a technical engineering drawing of the very ship that they were in. It listed out all manner of details, from the width of the walkways to the blastia powered cannons' mobile angles. "I stole this from the base at Heliord."

Flynn had forgotten that she had been there, and while he had questioned it at the time, the ordeal with Yuri had blocked almost all other thoughts from his mind.

"We should keep moving. The knights are on high alert." She ended further questions and she started up the stairs toward the next platform. Yuri was right behind her, just as eager to get through the bowels of this ship.

Even with the plans, they quickly found that the endlessly sprawling paths that made up the interior of the Heracles were a labyrinth. The building had deviated from the plans at some point, as if a madman had taken over construction and forced the laborers to play to his strange whims. There were staircases that led nowhere and doors that opened to nothing. They had to watch their steps very carefully. They found a myriad of dead ends and were forced to fight through a few dozen battles between knights and mechanical sentries. On the sixth floor up from their starting position they found yet another obstacle.

Rita moved to the control panel of the five light gates that stood between them and the door to the bridge. She pressed buttons and fiddled for a moment, Judith at her side, plans in hand.

"This structure doesn't appear on the map."

The mage slammed her fists on the control panel in frustration and spun away from it. "Estelle's in there and we're stuck out here with that barrier in the way!" She stomped around a moment, calming slowly as she looked out over the rest of the ship.

"How can we open it?" Karol asked, having hardly spoken a word the whole trip.

"What about these?" Judith asked, smoothing the plans over the control panel. she pointed to a series of lights that shone through strange colored points that they hadn't seen before.

"These are..."

"We saw these units on the way up here. They looked like nothing more than flood lights, but maybe they have another purpose." Rita stroked her chin thoughtfully, examining the plans. "We'll have to backtrack. Maybe if we take these units out, this barrier will deactivate."

No one was happy to backtrack through the maze, but given that it could be their only hope of getting to the bridge, they did it without complaint. The nearest of the globe shaped light blastia was two floors down, through a tangle of supply crates that choked the level. At least if this didn't work, they hadn't gone all the way back to the place of entrance.

Just like the cannons in the Egothor Forest, try as she might, Rita was unable to simply disarm them, and the density of the aer around them after she tried prevented Judith from moving in to destroy them with her spear. Yuri had a solution though.

He grabbed a crate and drug it up the stairs onto a small platform overhead. Throwing his back into it, he knocked the crate down on top of the blastia, sending bits of wire, glass, and metal spraying across the floor as it shattered. It was crude, but effective. they could see from the floor that one of the light gates above had diminished.

They moved on to the other four pillars, destroying them any way they could, until high above them the light of the barrier had completely disappeared.

Better acclimated to the set up of the ship, they flew back up to the sixth floor, fighting as they went the knights and sentries that had been alerted to their presence. Finally, the door to the bridge was exposed to them across a long walkway above the insane maze that was the Heracles. They didn't hesitate in crossing, finding no further obstacles.

Yuri was the first at the door, fire in his eyes and impatience tightening his every muscle. He was driven forward, but what was propelling him, Flynn couldn't tell. Was it to sate all his bottled up rage and pain on Alexei, who would be waiting there? Was it to stop the war? Was it justice? Was it revenge? Was it the desire to simply save Estellise? Yes, they had become fast friends over their long journey. Flynn could say that they had taken a liking to each other. But right now, in this moment, what was driving Yuri Lowell?

He pulled the door open in the middle of unsheathing his sword. Everyone was ready to face as Alexei, to save Estellise.

"Well, what have we here?"

The familiar face and voice didn't belong to Alexei. In fact, he wasn't even in the bridge that opened up to them, the huge glass window staring out across the ocean and to Zaphias. Flynn should have expected to find one of the grand architects of the Empire, of this ship, at the helm.

"Garista...." Yuri growled, low in his throat in a tone that matched Repede's.

The man before them was Garista Luodor, one of the highest ranking mages in the world, whose superior weaponry and blastia had long since turned the tide of war in the Empire's favor. He was known as an excellent strategist and accomplished with many artes. Flynn had _trusted_ this man once, only months ago believed his every deed was for the sake of the Empire, but these weeks on the road with Yuri had opened his eyes. He had been blind, but now he was seeing the truth.

"I commend your efforts for making it this far, even if your methods were less than refined."

"Where is Estelle?" Yuri asked.

"Estelle...? Oh, you mean the Child of the Full Moon. Yes. As even you can plainly see, she's not here. Rather, she's already in Zaphias."

They had been wrong. Alexei hadn't used the Heracles to march on Zaphias. Instead, the massive warship had been a decoy to distract them.

"His Excellency said to kill you outright as soon as you got here, but I think I'd much rather play with you for a bit before feeding you to the Heracles."

"Feed?" Karol asked, eyes a little wide. The only one who seemed to understand was Judith, and she said nothing.

"Zagi. It's your turn," Garista said.

The name chilled Flynn to the bones, but the lithe acrobatic form with wild red eyes that dropped out of the rafters even more so. "It's about time! I was going to die of boredom!"

"Try to do your job this time. And don't make a big mess." Garista adjusted his glasses up the bridge of his long, thin nose and took a step backward to overlook some of the bridge's controls.

"It's been a while, Flynn." Zagi twirled his daggers and slid into his fighting stance.

The blastia that was his left arm appeared repaired now, perhaps even upgraded from the last model. The glow of the blastia in his shoulder was brighter, and along with the green veins that trailed down the metal gauntlet, there were purple ones as well.

"We don't have time to mess around with you, Zagi," Yuri said, gritting his teeth.

"Right now, I'm all you've got!" He charged at them, his focus squarely on Flynn.

Flynn was ready, and blocked his blow and swung to avoid Zagi's bladed feet. Even with the more advanced blastia on Zagi's arm. Flynn had fought him three times before and he felt confident now. He had seen these moves before. He knew mostly what to expect and to not let his guard down. He wasn't going to need Yuri to bail him out of this one, but this fight would take the cooperation of everyone.

Judith came in, knocking Zagi toward Yuri and Repede, who were waiting for the chance to send him ricocheting. Zagi skidded to a stop before they could and used his dagger to block Yuri as he charged. Repede took advantage of the opening and started attacking while Zagi's focus was getting back at Flynn. Karol swung, knocking Zagi away from the others and sending him flying into some of the machinery and Rita doused him with a serving of her Champagne spell.

Zagi recovered quickly in spite of their group effort and, spinning and flipping, was after Flynn again. Rather than defend, Flynn took a risky bet, and sidestepped Zagi. As he did, he raised his blade, catching the assassin across his left arm. The strike wasn't very strong, but did enough damage to cause the blastia to start sparking. His whirling blade faltered a second and Zagi burst into a frenzy unlike any before.

Yuri blocked him in between Flynn and Judith, chopping away while he was trapped there in order to give Rita another chance to cast. Lightning fast, Zagi pulled something off his belt. Flynn expected the contents of the flask to be thrown at them, but when Zagi upended the bottle into his mouth instead, he assumed that it was a healing medicine of some sort. He was wrong again.

He poured the sickeningly green liquid into his mouth, but did not swallow. Zagi recoiled a few steps as Karol struck out to stop him, throwing the empty flask aside and dodging the boy's blade as he turned. His lips curled back in a sneer and with a heavy breath, he sprayed Flynn and Yuri with the liquid, a fine mist of green stinging their faces. Judith evaded this attack and Zagi was out before he got to Karol and Rita.

Instantly, Flynn felt sick, his limbs heavy and his body slowing. It must have been poison, but to deliver it in such a way was unthinkable.

"Hahahaha! Let's see you fight now!" Zagi stumbled a step, unable to escape the effects of his own attack.

Yuri had to be feeling it, too, and swung hard at the assassin to try and correct for the heaviness of his own body. "I'm getting really tired of this, Zagi!"

"Oh, come on, Yuri! This is fun!"

"I prefer to keep work and pleasure separate!"

"Ha! For people like you and me, they're one and the same!"

While Zagi was taunting Yuri, Judith took her chance and struck the blastia arm again, delivering a powerful and punishing blow that sent Zagi barreling across the floor of the bridge and into the large glass window. Garista who hadn't moved from his position at the controls looked down at him as if in disgust.

"Now you've gone and damaged it again."

"Shut up! It doesn't matter as long as I can kill Flynn!" Zagi scrambled to his feet. He banged on the arm, and the sparks worsened. It began to twitch violently and uncontrollably, the green glow slowly darkening to purple.

The veins began to turn also, creeping up Zagi's skin, the effects of his blastia arm spreading further, faster. He clawed at it frantically, trying to rip the mechanical arm off.

"You! What's this thing doing?!" He shouted at Garista, who looked at him once more.

"You asked me to give you a more advanced upgrade, so I did. The problem now is that its found the rest of you unsatisfactory, so it's going to improve you. Or destroy you trying."

"No way...." Rita muttered, watching in awe.

"Fine!" Zagi cackled, turning back to the party, disbelief becoming fuel for his rage. "If I'm going down, I'm going to take all of you with me!"

"Like hell ya are, ya loon!" A brilliant green arrow shot like a comet, the force of which sent Zagi tumbling back, shattering through the glass window of the Heracles.

The voice from behind them caused Yuri to stiffen. The others all turned, but he couldn't. Flynn knew exactly why and exactly who that voice belonged to.

"Raven!" Karol was the first to speak, surprise and excitement in his voice.

"Raven...." The name fell from Yuri's lips.

"What the hell, you old pervert?!" Rita shouted.  
Even Garista turned, a perturbed look crossing his pale face. He smirked, pushing a bit of his stark blond out of this eyes. "Well, if it isn't our esteemed Captain Schwann."

"Sorry. I don't know anyone by that name." He jumped down from the upper level platform to join them, and while Karol looked at him hopefully, Yuri wasn't convinced. His eyes remained cold and fixed on Garista.

"Raven--" Karol started.

"Sorry, kid. No time to talk." He notched another arrow in his bow and aimed it at Garista.

"Well, Zagi was a failure. It appears as though I'll have to take care of you myself after all." Garista took a step forward, pushing the sleeves of his dark purple robe up to his elbows. With his teeth, he pulled off his dark, leather gloves, revealing hands and arms plated in metal, veined in the purple blastia light that he was known for. The palms of his hands each had a core within, and when he raised them, arcs of purple lightning passed between them.

"What the hell have you done to yourself?!" Rita shouted, pushing past Flynn to get a better look, her face horrified.

"Just a few minor modifications, you see. Human bodies are weak, but blastia... blastia are strong. They have lived for thousands of years, untouched by time. So rather than simply dying, if I continue with these modifications, I will soon be immortal and the world shall bask in my knowledge for eons to come. It's all thanks to Hermes's research. Even the ancient masters of this world, the Entelexeia, have benefited from my knowledge."

"What do you mean?" Flynn asked.

"He means the Heracles. Or should I say, Bacchius?" Everyone was taken aback by Judith's statement.

"Yes. My beautiful, all powerful Heracles."

"You mean that--" Rita's mouth dropped open as the realization hit her.

"The Heracles was once an Enetelexeia," her tone dropped, words faltering at they slid through her lips.

"Oh, but he is an Enetelexeia in part still. He is augmented much the same as I am. Although, he has much less of his own mind than I do," Garista sneered.

"So that means--" Yuri surveyed the room and came to the same realization as Flynn did.

His stomach lurched and Flynn had to physically suppress a gag. They were within a structure whose interior walls were not metal, but bone, flesh and sinew. Those arcs of red and white along the walls when they entered made sense now. They were ribs and that meant that Garista had built the Heracles on top of and _inside_ an Entelexeia's body. Flynn gagged again, anger and sickness burning hot in his throat.

"Now you understand."

A rumble shook the living ship and a light off the bow drew their attention past Garista.

"What's that?" Karol asked.

"The cannon! It's charging!" Rita replied. "We've got to stop it!"

"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that. It really is necessary for what comes next.” Garista said darkly, his lips twisting further in his maddened snicker. “It's somewhat amusing actually. Ten years ago, before this Entelexeia had the honor of becoming the Heracles, he marched on the capital during the Great War in order to destroy our blastia. At the time, we were able to stop him thanks to a weapon that I had in development. It did result in some civilian casualties among those of the Lower Quarter, but what are their lives worth?"

Flynn knew that day. He could never forget it. His father had almost died that day, but thanks to his actions, he had received a promotion. A large portion of the Lower Quarter had been destroyed, and many had died.

"And now he marches once more to Zaphias, carrying the object of his loathing on his back. This is true power. This is what the Empire is truly capable of. With the power of my blastia, even our enemies can be useful." Garista formed an arc once more with his hands, and then fired the lightning at them, forcing them to scatter. "And all of your bodies will provide the fuel to get us there."

Unable to block and still reeling from the fight with Zagi, they ducked behind machinery. He walked calmly, shooting at them as they tried to get away and get to the controls for the cannon, sending them scattering again.

Raven popped out of his hiding spot long enough to loose an arrow, but Garista easily disintegrated the bolt with the lightning between his hands. While Garista was distracted, Yuri hunkered down next to Flynn.

"I'll distract him. Get Rita to the cannon controls."

Flynn didn't argue. There was no time and a stupid plan was better than none. He shuffled quietly over to Rita, cupping her shoulder with one hand. He pressed a finger to his lips and motioned to the controls. She seemed to understand and settled into a squat for a second, ready to run at a moment's notice.

"This is no fun without you putting up a fight, you know." Garista's voice was hollow, cold and calm.

Yuri sprung up from his spot, evading one shot of lightning, but getting paralyzed in place by another. Flynn grabbed Rita, rushing her over to the cannon controls while Yuri still had Garista's attention.

Halfway there, a shock tore through his body, stopping him mid-step. He tried to fight back against it, but it surged through him, hot and unyielding.

Time froze as Garista moved to look him in the eye, a twisted smirk across his face. "My, you look awfully familiar." A cold hand, metal now where flesh once was, passed down his cheek, chilling him to the bone. "You wouldn't be Captain Finath's boy, would you?"

Flynn's blood started to boil, but he was stuck stone still.

"You do bear a striking resemblance. How is he by the way?" He chuckled. "Oh wait. That's right. He's dead, isn't he? For the glory of the Empire and all. It was really a shame that I had to incinerate them all in that test run. The Finath Brigade didn't stand a chance against Heracles's cannon."

Garista's hand sparked with purple light and it neared Flynn's face again, the arcs of lightning dancing between his metallic fingers. His blood was white hot, searing under his skin, but his desire to move, to do something, couldn't even get him unfrozen.

"Flynn!" Yuri called out, shaking off his paralysis with the help of Judith and a panacea bottle. He dashed forward, lashing out at Garista.

The mage turned the hand on Yuri, but Raven separated the two of them with an arrow and jumped into the fray, only to get paralyzed.

"You're hardly putting up a fight at all. This is really no fun."

Yuri lunged at him, ready to strike with Dein Nomos, but Garista caught the blade as if it were a small feat at best.

"I wonder how you got this. No matter though. It's only a useless relic now."

"We'll see about that!" Yuri exclaimed as the same field from before appeared around him.

The lightning started to diminish and they were free of paralysis suddenly. The blastia in Garista's hands started to glow brighter and then fade to black. He pulled back from the blade, but his blastia was already caught up in its power and was fading fast.

"What? No. This can't be happening!"

"Guess what? It's happening." Yuri tucked down the sword at his waist and charged Garista. He pressed him back against the glass tube of swirling aer that stood at the center of the bridge.

Garista rolled to try and get out of the way of the blade, to try and get the blastia in his hands functioning again, but was met once more by Yuri, who shoved him harder this time, the deactivation field still glowing. Another rough press had the glass of the tube cracking, but Yuri wasn't done. His fist caught the front of Garista's coat, fingers curling in the fabric with force enough to lift him off the ground.

"Yuri!" Flynn tried to step between them. Garista was mostly powerless now, but Yuri didn't care for that. His blade, his step craved for blood. He slammed him against the glass once, twice, three times, pulling him back each time.

"I can't stop the cannon!" Rita cried out from the front of the bridge. Judith met her there, looking over the controls.

"It's still charging!"

"Of course it is, you fools." Garista smirked past the blood streaming down his face. "This will be a glorious day in the history of the Empire!"

No. This was not the purpose of the Empire. They were not meant to trample and destroy, to cause pain and anguish. Their purpose was not to do evil, but to serve its people. Alexei and Garista and Ragou and so many others had so easily and willingly twisted those intentions to match their own lusts for power. This wasn't the Empire Flynn knew and loved. This wasn't the Empire that his father had fought and died for. This was madness and this had to be stopped.

As much as he hated it, he understood how Yuri felt. He wanted to take revenge for his father. He wanted Garista to pay, but that would not be justice. Murder would not bring his father back or rewind the hands of time and fix what Garista had done. Revenge was sweet, but justice sweeter. He could uphold the Law and uphold Justice.

Yuri's hands were shaking as Flynn forced him to a stop. "We'll take him into custody. We'll make him stop the cannon."

The guildsman turned sharply, ready to argue, but his fight was very quickly lost as he spotted Karol, who trotted up behind Flynn. He turned his head back away, fingers curling tightly into the front of Garista's robe. "Stop the cannon now."

"I can't."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I've programmed it so that even I can't stop it."

"It's aimed right for Zaphias!" Rita urged them on.

"It's too late now. Once this started, it couldn't be stopped. There will be no stopping Alexei now. It's the Heracles, you see. Underneath this metal shell and with these hollow insides, he still wants to complete his mission. To destroy the blastia, the capital and the Child of the Full Moon along with it. How foolish."

Another earthquake rumble shook them again, shattering the aer tube completely. Yuri activated Dein Nomos once more, dropping Garista to do this so that the highly dense aer wouldn't harm them.

Garista staggered back a step, clutching his arm. He was suddenly filled with a strange, sickening laughter. It seemed like hysterics. There was a very brief clicking and light from the blastia in his palms. He was still trying to get them activated again, but Dein Nomos was too strong. Yuri dropped the field and tried to grab him once more.

"Get back here!"

"Don't think that you've won. Don't think that this negates everything I've done, everything I've worked for, because it doesn't. In fact, everything is just coming to a head. Soon, this crumbling Empire will be renewed. And with it, my legacy will go on." He stumbled for another step, his feet ill at work beneath him. "You've always wanted me, Heracles. And now we shall be one."

"Garista, don't!" Flynn shouted, charging.

It was too late. Another step back sent him tumbling back into the broken air tube and into the inky blackness that it lead to.

There was only silence for a long moment, everyone unsure of what to say, before a sickening, blood curdling shriek came up the tube, and a second later, a spray of hot, red blood, staining the ceiling of the bridge, and the floor below.

The whole ship quaked angrily, threatening to throw them to their feet. It was too late. The vibrations set the Heracles's cannon off before they could stop it.

White-hot aer shot over the open sea, searing over the cliffs of the Mayoccia Plains, and hit the capital with a thunderous boom. Flynn's first fear was for the destruction of the capital and he found himself up against the shattered glass window, watching the growing cloud of dark red aer. But as the light of the cannon's blast faded, Zaphias and the Sword Stair were still intact. The aer stormed around the city, swirling as it surrounded it.

"The supercharged aer... it's become attached to the barrier," Judith muttered

"He wasn't planning to destroy Zaphias! He's only added fuel to Alexei's fire!" Rita slammed her hands on the control panel and then pulled back after a second. "It's charging again!"

"We can't let the aer density get any higher there," Raven said. "It's already deadly."

"How can we stop this thing?" Yuri asked, looking over the complex controls next to Rita.

"If we can get to the engine room, we could manually power it down," she replied.

"Let's go."

The ship's rumbling continued as they fled down several flights of stairs and further into the darker lower layers. The features of the interior of a creature were more prominent here, sickeningly so. On the third floor down, they found a door they hadn't seen before, but when it didn't open for them, Judith and Yuri made quick work of it.

The engine room made Flynn's stomach churn in disgust again. These were not walls of bone and muscle, but true flesh and the softness of organs. In the center of the room was a mass of flesh and muscle structure, covered in blue-green crystal. Dozens of tubes and wires ran through and into it. It was the Heracles' flesh and blood, its mechanized heart.

"Bacchius...."

"Can you reach him, Judith?" Rita asked.

"I can hear his voice, but only barely. It's garbled and drowned out by the mechanics keeping him alive."

"What do we do now, Rita?" Yuri asked.

There were no further control panels and the pressure was quickly mounting on the mage.

"I-I don't know! I didn't even think a monstrosity like this was possible! I've never seen a set up like this! I-I--" She started to hyperventilate.

Judith placed a hand gently on her should. "Calm down. You can do this."

"Judith...."

"We're all in this together," Yuri assured her. "There's no time to panic. We just have to stop this thing and we can save Estelle."

"Okay.... Okay. I'm fine." She took a deep breath and a step toward the heart and opened the control glyph for the machinery attached. "Judith, keep tying to get through to him. I need some help here."

"These machines are keeping him alive. The cannon is drawing the aer out of him, as if he were a raw, unaltered apathetia...."

Yuri's eyes narrowed. Flynn had seen that look. Flynn didn't like that look, and neither did Raven or Karol. He liked even less what came out of Yuri's mouth next.

"So that means, the only way to stop this ship is to--"

Judith cut him off. "Yes. Without these machines, the Heracles will stop and Bacchius will die."

"There's got to be another way!" Karol said.

"One life in exchange for the lives of many," Raven said, his voice an echo of the tone of Phaeroh's.

"If it makes it easier, he wishes to be free of this burden. He has been trapped, living a half life for the better part of ten years as Garista's toy and now he only wishes to rest," Judith added, sadness lacing her tone.

"No...." Karol's hands dropped to his sides, clenched into tight firsts.

"We'll try to make it quick then." Yuri replied, his hand around one of the thick wires, so that his fingers were flush with the beating, crystal covered heart. "Will this method work?"

"We don't have much of a choice. The formula here's even worse than the others. First deactivate it with Dein Nomos. That should make it easier." Rita closed the glyph and passed her hand down her face with a sigh.

Flynn hated the idea of killing this creature, but this was merciful, and they were short on time and options.

As Yuri activated Dein Nomos, Flynn stepped up to help him. As the heartbeat started to slow steadily, Yuri pulled the first cord out, sending it sputtering with aer to the ground. he and Flynn ripped the others away quickly, deftly, with all their strength. As the last tube came loose, the heart slowed to a stop.

 _Thank you_.

Bacchius's heart, damaged and old, disappeared in a bright flash of light. If the rumbling before had been bad, the quaking now was worse. Beyond the walls, they could hear pieces of the ship falling apart, no longer held together by rivets and aer and living flesh.

"Ba'ul's on his way," Judith said, turning away from them. Flynn didn't miss the trickle of tears from her eyes.

"We have to get out of here before we get trapped,” he said.

Back up the stairs, they fled as the Entelexeia started to turn into aer around them, drifting off into nothingness. The sounds of the charging cannon dissipated with the remains of the Entelexeia. They made it to the upper platform, where a bay door had opened to the outside via a long runway.

Ba'ul dipped out of the sky, pausing only long enough to allow them to scramble aboard before Judith urged him toward Zaphias. From the rudder, Flynn and Yuri watched as the metallic hull of the Heracles crumbled into the sea along with any apathetia that may have been left after all that Garista had done.

 


	52. Chapter 52

The clouds of aer boiled around them like a black storm, and shivers of hot, white lightning shot wildly from cloud to cloud. The dark red-purple swirling dome of aer that encapsulated the city of Zaphias wouldn't deter him. Estelle was in there and he wouldn't stop until she was safe. He had made that his mission. With death, betrayal, and blood burdening him, it was the one thing he could cling to. If he allowed his thoughts to turn to anything else, he would go mad. If he stopped moving, he would fall apart beneath the weight of everything that had happened. He needed to be strong, to be focused.

"We're almost there, Estelle," Yuri muttered into the wind, receiving only its howl as a response.

He tried not to let his mind wander, keeping his thoughts carefully sequestered, but they ran down dangerous roads anyways.

_You killed the Don and Raven, too! You're a monster!_

_You're no better than the people you've killed._

_You're heartless!_

_No matter what you do, you'll never be able to change anything._

_I hate you!_

He felt pieces of himself crumbling away, hopelessly lost to the wind and sea with no chance of recovery or regeneration. What was lost could not be found. Even Brave Vesperia and its cold light offered him no comfort. This was his life and his choice and it was too late to go back now.

"Master Ioder!" Flynn's voice broke him away from those dark, ghosts of thoughts, and back to the present. The young Imperial Prince had woken and was trying to leave the cabin with Flynn's help. It would be one more distraction on the road.

"Master Ioder, please, you must rest." Flynn tried to urge him back to the cabin, but Ioder held firm in the wind.

"We are near Zaphias, are we not? I sense that Estellise is near. Alexei, as well."

"Yes. Regrettably, she has been captured."

Raven looked away, his face betraying his guilt in the matter.

"Her power is now wildly out of control," Judith added. "With all the aer, it will be impossible for Ba'ul to land."

"What is your plan to stop Alexei?" Ioder asked.

"We're going to drop in and wreck his little party." Yuri tried to convincingly seem smug and confident as he said that, but he was unsure how successful he was.

Ba'ul warbled and the Sword Stair, the central area of the barrier, came into sight. Even at this distance, there was the unmistakable form of Estelle trapped in the aer bubble, and Alexei beside her. He had seen them coming. Of course he would have. There was no way they were going to _not_ come to her rescue.

"There they are." Yuri grabbed the Fiertia's rigging, wrapping the rope around one arm, and he climbed onto the ship's railing. "I'm going in to get her. Can Ba'ul get us a little closer?"

"Yes, but not much," Judith said, and communicated with her partner.

"Be careful, kid," Raven said quietly. He still couldn't look Yuri in the eye.

As they flew a little closer, Estelle and Alexei came into full view. He instantly started charging the aer around her, and the bubble did nothing to muffle her screams of pain.

"Estelle! Get a hold of yourself!" Yuri called out and she opened her eyes.

"Yuri!"

The aer bubble grew brighter and Estelle began screaming again as her eyes darkened and her control slipped away. Yuri jumped from the railing, gripping the line as tightly as he could and propelling himself through the wind toward the parapet of the Sword Stair. The wind tried to throw him back, the force of it enhanced by Estelle's power, but he wasn't going to be at its mercy. He threw all his weight toward Estelle, one arm outstretched.

She reached up. He could grab her. He was only inches away. He couldn't give up now. He was so close.

"Fools. Now you die," Alexei said, and the apathetia around him began spinning in a dizzying pattern.

With just inches between them, the wind and the storm intensified and threw him back. The rope tightened and twisted, burning as it slid harshly across his arm. He tried to propel himself forward again, but the force against him only grew stronger.

Estelle shouted at him, words he could barely hear over the sound of the storm. "Yuri! Please... so I don't hurt anyone else... please kill me!"

He hit the hull of the ship _hard_ , hard enough to feel something crack and to set his head reeling and blur his vision. It wasn't just him. Ba'ul and the whole ship were getting caught up in that storm and swept away. Yuri fought to make his body work in spite of whatever he had injured, in spite of _everything_. He had to save Estelle. That was the only thing he could think as the Sword Stair disappeared into the distance.

His grip on the rope started to loosen, relieving the pressure, but his fingers were no longer responding. He couldn't get a hold of it and could feel it slipping out of his grasp, leaving raw, red burns. His body was sinking and as hard as he tried to make it work, it just wouldn't respond.

An arm grabbed his, a tight warm hand on his forearm. He couldn't see through the haze. Who was it? Everything was getting dark.

"Yuri!" That voice rang in his ears over the wind.

_Flynn...._

* * *

 

As soon as the darkness started recede, driving back in waves, he fumbled to move, to open his eyes. His body was largely unresponsive at first. Slowly, he started to get the feeling back in his limbs, spreading into his torso where it /hurt/. Blindly, his fingers prodded his side, finding something worse than simple bruises there. The scrape of bones told him that he had broken at least one rib, probably closer to three with the amount of pain he was in.

Yuri let out a ragged breath and was finally able to see. Above him the sky was bright blue, bordered by clouds and the green tops of trees. Where was he?

The realization of what had happened hit him hard. The others had been with him. They could be hurt or worse. He scrambled to stand, trying to block out the pain. It was definitely more than one broken rib. He groaned and rolled onto his knees, fighting to stand.

"K-Karol? Rita? Judy? Anybody?" He started calling out for them, and as he looked up, he found Repede trotting up to him. "Repede."

The dog whined and lent him his sturdy back to help him stand.

He got to his shaky and weak feet. All around them were the scattered shards of the Fiertia, and laying a little further away, was the hulking form of Ba'ul, whose breathing was labored. He appeared injured as well.

"There you are."

He turned to see Flynn carrying Rita in his arms. She was unconscious, her face smeared with blood and grease. Flynn was battered and bruised also, but he appeared in better shape than Yuri felt. He set the mage down, checking her gently for injuries. Beside her was Karol, who was also out cold.

"We've been looking for you." His tone was too calm.

"Where's everyone else?" The tension and panic was clear in his voice.

"Just take it easy, Yuri."

"Fuck you! Where are the others?!"

"Everyone's alive. Karol, Rita, and Master Ioder were knocked unconscious in the crash. With some further medical treatment, they'll be fine. Judith is checking Ba'ul and Raven went scouting ahead to find out where we are. Tokunaga's trying to find the rest of the ship."

Yuri would have breathed a sigh of relief if it hadn't hurt so much to breathe in the first place. He groaned, trying not to sink back onto his knees. The others still needed a doctor. Hopefully, they were within walking distance of a town. He couldn't stop now. He had to make up for his failure to save Estelle.

_Yuri! Please... so I don't hurt anyone else... please kill me!_

Recalling those words made him tremble. He didn't like the reality of it, of turning his blade against a friend, against sweet and honest Estelle who never intended to harm anyone.

He tried to stand up straight, but the pinch and the ache of his ribs doubled him over again, groaning.

"Here. Sit down."

"I'm fine," Yuri snapped.

"No, you're not. You got injured worse than the rest of us." Flynn pressed him down onto a piece of the shattered ship's bow. "Let me take a look."

Yuri wanted to resist, but the ache in his side prevented him from making too much of an effort. Flynn probed his side for a moment, finding the area of injury when Yuri winced to keep from moaning. Gentle, but firm, he prodded to determine the size of the injury.

"Looks like you broke a few ribs."

"I could have told you that."

"But you weren't going to, were you?"

Yuri didn't reply.

Flynn laid his hand flush with Yuri's side and cast 'First Aid'. The soft blue light of the spell tingled against Yuri's skin, and beneath that, he could feel the ache of his ribs as the bone knit itself back together.

"My spell is nowhere near as powerful as Estellise's, but it should make do until we can get to a town."

"Estelle...."

"Did you... hear what she said back there?"

He didn't want to face the reality of what it was she had said to him, and the implication of it. If his path was leading him that way, did he have no choice but to follow? "No. It was too windy." If he didn't admit it, that made it less real, less definite.

Flynn nodded mutely and left Yuri's side. Raven returned from his scouting and Yuri tried his hardest not to look at him, not to glare. Things between them weren't going to be settled so easily. Yuri was still so mad that he had to force himself not walk away whenever the man he had once trusted spoke.

"There's a town not too far. I don't know how much help it'll be though."

"Why do you say that?" Flynn asked.

"The town's Heliord."

"No," Yuri said.

"We're too far from Dahngrest to be of any use. You kids need ta see a doctor as soon as possible." Raven sounded concerned, but was that even the truth anymore? Had he ever been concerned? Had everything he had ever said been just a lie?

"Heliord is our only option right now."

"No!" He didn't care about his own pain. Karol and Rita, they needed to see a doctor, but Heliord was out of the question. They wouldn't get help there. They would get sent to the gallows. While the thought of dangling by his own neck didn't bother Yuri, there was no way he was going to let the others share his fate.

"We have the ability to turn this situation around." Ioder's voice caused him to snap his head up to see the young prince approach them, in little better shape than the rest of them. "With Alexei holed up in Zaphias, the Knights have only one person left of superior rank to listen to."

"Master Ioder...."

"As the Imperial candidate, we can take charge. The knights will not disobey my order."

"I agree with the Prince." Judith joined the conversation. "We should strike while the iron's hot. Alexei may be powerful, but he's in no position to be issuing orders this far from the capital. And with Ba'ul's injuries, and us lacking a ship, we won't be able to fly for a while."

Their eyes all looked down on him. He was the only one not on board with this plan. His reservations were very clear, but their opinions were wearing on him.

Yuri stood, moving past them without a word, and he shifted Karol onto his back. Fine. If there was no other way, he would go. He could feel the weight of the child on his back as well as his recently, although not fully-repaired ribs.

"Yuri!" Flynn tried to stop him, but Yuri kept moving.

"You grab Rita. Let's get going."

"Kid, ya hafta take it easy. I'll--" Raven grabbed his shoulder and Yuri felt that rage that he had kept well hidden and well managed swell in him.

He thrust Raven away from him with the heel of his hand, glaring at him from beneath the dark fringe of his hair. "Don't touch me."

Instantly, the scruffy man backed off. After years of being at Yuri's side, he had to know that Yuri couldn't be reasoned with at times like these. His stubbornness and rage were going to get the best of him and it was just better in the interest of time to keep moving.

* * *

 

Flynn shouldered Rita, after finding that Ioder was well enough to walk on his own, at least for a short time, and Judith and Raven gathered the packs.

He remembered these forests, at least little bits, from the last time he had trailed Yuri through them on the way to Heliord. This was different. Yuri was not on a mission of revenge, although the fires of that surely still burned just beneath his skin at the very idea of going to the city-fort where so many of his people had been slaughtered.

The hike felt like an eternity, but the fort they had once fled from finally came into sight. He sincerely hoped this worked. Their lives depended on it.

"H-Hey! Let go of me!" Karol called from the back and Flynn turned just in time to see the boy awake and begin fighting to get off Yuri's back.

"Karol, take it easy--"

Yuri tried to coax him, but the struggle forced him to his hands and knees, panting and the boy scampered off of him as quickly as possible. He looked down at Yuri for a moment, shoulders hunched, trembling with anger.

"Don't touch me!"

Those words spat back at him caused Yuri to sink a little.

"Judith, would you mind carrying Rita for a few moments?"

"Certainly, Flynn."

Flynn carefully moved the still unconscious mage onto Judith's back and went to check on Karol first. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine."

"We're almost to a town. Can you walk or do you need one of us to carry you?"

"I said I'm fine!"

"All right. Go ahead and catch up with the others. We're right behind you."

Karol turned and didn't look back as he dashed off to walk beside Raven.

Flynn knelt down beside Yuri, casting 'First Aid' on him a second time. And he had just healed those broken ribs. He grabbed Yuri under the arm and started to pull him up when Yuri lashed out at him, wild with anger. Flynn dodged the punch intended for his face and grabbed Yuri's other arm. Yuri let his arms droop between them, the surge of energy and rage gone.

"I don't need your sympathy."

He wanted to tell Yuri that Karol simply didn't see how hurt he was. Karol couldn't understand the horrors that Yuri had been, and still was, trying to protect him from. Karol couldn't understand how raw and hollow Yuri must have felt after bearing his secret. Flynn couldn't really understand it either, so he only threw Yuri's arm over his shoulder and grabbed him by the waist and started aiding him in walking. He was glad that Yuri gave up temporarily.

The walk to Heliord wasn't much further, and in spite of the amount of time that had passed since their last visit, very little had changed. The labor camp was still full and functioning and the outer walls of the fort were still lined with the blood-rusted metal cages filled with bones.

"Raven, where are we...?" Karol asked, clinging slightly to the scruffy man.

"This here's Heliord. Also known as Guildman's Gallows."

"Gallows....?" The pitch of Karol's voice rose with sudden understanding and fear.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" The guards spotted them immediately, hands groping for their weapons.

"I am the Imperial Prince, Ioder Argylos Heurassein.” Ioder pulled a fist sized metal object out of his breast pocket. Flynn recognized it as this emblem, the symbol of the Imperial family.

"Your Highness!" The weapons dropped as quickly as they had been taken up, the Knights taking to one knee. Flynn breathed a small sigh of relief, but it wasn't over yet.

"Arrest those impostors immediately!" Cumore's nasally voice hadn't been one that he wanted to hear. The captain was standing on the parapets of the fort, looking down on them. He knew they weren't impostors.

The weapons came up again, if a little reluctantly.

"Flynn," Ioder called to him.

"Can you stand?" He whispered to Yuri.

"I can fight." Yuri shrugged him off, fingers curling on the handle of his sword.

Flynn moved to the front of their party to stand beside Ioder, awaiting orders.

"Myself and _Captain_ Flynn Scifo will be taking control of this fort."

"C-Captain?" Flynn stuttered in surprise.

"Congratulations." Ioder turned back to the assembled Knights. "As the Imperial Prince, I order you to stand down and show the respect afforded to your superior officers."

The weapons dropped again, but Cumore wasn't going to take this lying down. "Captain Flynn? This man is a traitor to the Empire. He is responsible for the kidnapping of Their Highnesses, Estellise and Ioder. He is working in correlation with these guild spies!"

"The true traitor of the Empire is Commandant Alexei, and your Captain Cumore is in league with him."

"Who are you going to side with?" Cumore shouted over the knights. "Me or him?!"

"I side with Captain Flynn." Sodia stepped forward and saluted Flynn. The other knights didn't hesitate to join her, gathering around Flynn and the party. Cumore was left with no one to defend him.

"What? What are you idiots doing siding with this traitor?! I am your Captain! I can have you all executed for treason!"

"Surrender at once." Flynn warned.

"You don't outrank me, you common scum!"

"Surrender, Cumore," Ioder said sternly. "Your senseless genocide here will not go unpunished. At least save some face."

"Tch... brat."

"By His Imperial Highness's order, arrest Captain Alexander Cumore at once for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and treason against the Empire," Flynn commanded and they obeyed.

 


	53. Chapter 53

At Flynn's order, and with Ioder's backing, the swarm of knights easily, and roughly, took down their own captain. Their patience with him seemed to have waned substantially or they were at least interested in not being branded as traitors themselves. The knights easily fell under Flynn's command, and for a glimmering moment, Yuri could see the charisma that he had, that inspired others to believe in him and follow him. It would be a lie to say that Yuri didn't feel that sway a little, too.

Cumore was hauled away screaming, and in a matter of moments, they were marching up to the captain's quarters. Apparently, no one in camp much liked Cumore, because as soon as they were settled into one of the lavish rooms of the converted inn, the Captain's personal doctor was kowtowing to Flynn and Ioder.

Karol and Rita were put to bed and received medical attention first, and given something to help them sleep, and then Yuri was summarily poked and prodded. He wasn't happy with the finding of a mild concussion to match his broken ribs, but the doctor made quick work of fixing him up. He couldn't say that he felt as good as new, what with all the jumbled mess in his brain and thoughts he'd rather not be thinking haunting him.

As soon as the others were getting examined and Flynn's watchful eyes no longer on him, Yuri slipped away.

Yuri walked the parapets of the fortress city and he felt so _odd_. He had thought that one day he'd walk these platforms on the way to the gallows, but not like this. The knights weren't after him. Hell, they weren't even _looking_ at him. It was bizarre and surreal. Yuri had never liked the knights. He had learned at a very young age that they were largely inept blowhards with no interest in following their own creed. That may have explained his initial disdain for Flynn. But he knew now, and he could see now, that Flynn was different; just as his father, Finath had been.

He spotted the newly promoted Flynn only a few moments into his walk, talking to Ioder and Sodia. He couldn't overhear the conversation, but it seemed heavy. His head still hurt too much for that. They dispersed after a few moments and Yuri was grateful that Flynn didn't seem to notice him. Sodia, on the other hand, marched directly up to him and as soon as she opened her mouth, her words were venomous.

"You. Guildsman. Don't think just because the Captain doesn't have you in shackles that you'll be off the hook for the crimes you've committed."

"Take it easy. Flynn hasn't forgotten the things I've done."

"He saved you from the gallows. Show him some respect, you worthless--"

"Jeez. Relax. I don't know what you've got against me."

Saying that only fueled her fire.

"You are still the enemy. I have no idea why he's wanting to foster peace with a city of filthy criminals."

Yuri kept his cool. Nothing she could say would likely upset him. "If you wanna take a stab at me, go ahead." The idea of a fight got his blood racing. It was just what he needed.

"You ungrateful--"

"Sodia, is something the matter?" Flynn rounded the corner, but his face made it appear as though he hadn't overheard most of their brief conversation.

"N-No, sir." She was meek once more.

Flynn turned to him. "Yuri, you should be resting as well. Things have been rough."

"I can't bring myself to rest in a place where so many of my people have been slaughtered. I'm sure you know the feeling."

"How dare you--"

Flynn cut her off again, this time sternly. "Relax, Sodia. Yuri is not our enemy. If it weren't for him, I would have never made it here. He saved my life on numerous occasions. And I ask that he and his friends be treated with respect. It is understandable for him to be bitter after the tragedy that transpired here."

"Yes, sir."

"You're dismissed."

As she turned on her heel, her purple eyes caught his and she glared at him intensely. Her pace was quick as she left, but Yuri felt that the incident wasn't going to be the end of it.

"Wow. She's a bit scary."

"My apologies. Sodia is rather... tenacious. And can be intense at times, but she honestly means well."

"Yeah. Tenacious. You could call it that." There was nothing well meaning about the daggers in her eyes, but Yuri let the subject rest.

"We're having the bodies of the guildsmen slain here given proper burials as soon as possible. Is there anything else we can do for them?"

"Send their Comrade Crests back to Dahngrest so the families aren't left wondering."

"I'll see that it's done. Please don't roam too far. After things settle down a little, we have to come up with a plan to get into Zaphias."

"Captain!" A knight called, walking briskly toward them with a bundle of cloth in his arms.

"What is it?" He was falling into that role so easily that it almost scared Yuri.

"We found this child abandoned down in the labor camp. We can't locate its parents and no one knows where it came from." The Knight tilted his arm down, showing them a small baby, only days old swaddled in the dirty folds of fabric. It was pale and malnourished, looking up at them with dark eyes red from crying.

"You've questioned everyone in the labor camp?"

"Yes, sir."

Flynn stroked his chin thoughtfully, as if searching for what to do. Yuri knew though.

"Here." He opened his arms, and the surprised but mute knight handed the baby over. He shifted his arms, settling the child's delicate head and neck in the crook of his elbow.

The knight wasn't the only one who was surprised. The look Flynn was giving him was a somewhat hilarious version of shock. Yuri expected questioning next. Did he know how to take care of a baby? Better yet, how did he know these things? But these questions never came.

"What's your name, soldier?" Flynn asked the knight.

"Hachette, sir."

"Hachette, for the time being, it is your job to get Yuri whatever he asks for for the care of this child, as well as to try and track down the child's parents."

"But, sir, a guildsman--"

Yuri was used to the prejudice. Even Flynn would have made the argument not that long ago.

"If we are to foster peace in the wake of what has happened, we must set aside our differences at a time like this. This is an order. If Yuri is able to sufficiently care for the child when no one else can, should we distrust him simply because he is a citizen of Dahngrest?" Flynn's tone wasn't angry, but calm and patient.

"Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir."

Five years of bitter war would make that difficult. It was hard for either side to overcome everything that had happened. And the discrimination worked both ways. Dahngrest would not be able to easily dismiss the massacre here. Gramps had wanted peace, but at what cost would it come? And was Flynn willing to pay a price that steep?

"Good. I'll leave this to you then." Flynn turned to Yuri. "Let him know what you need and don't hesitate to tell me if anyone gives you or the others any trouble."

"When have you ever known me to hesitate?" Yuri instantly wished he hadn't asked that, and although Flynn's eyes grew full of pity, he said nothing to answer the rhetorical question. Yuri was glad for that much.

Flynn left a second later, the knight saluting him, and he turned to Yuri, fidgeting a little. "So, um....?"

"I need a clean blanket, a cleaned out wineskin, and some fresh, warm milk."

"Yes, sir."

"Bring that stuff to the inn. I'll be waiting." Yuri headed back to the inn as soon as Hachette left. Repede met him at the entrance with a joyful wag of his tail and they wandered off into the inn. After a short search, they found a small, unoccupied room with the most basic furnishing.

With a towel and the wash basin, he cleaned the baby girl up, who shivered at the slightest touch. Her state of ill health only make him more angry, and more nostalgic. This was the not the first abandoned child he had cared for.

He pulled the sheets off the bed, slicing them into squares to serve as makeshift diapers, and then wrapped her up in a blanket from the top of the bed. Repede hopped up on the bare mattress and had no problem serving as a pillow for the child. She was starting to cry. Warmth and comfort wouldn't fill a hungry belly.

Repede tried to placate her, licking her face tenderly as if she was his own pup, and thankfully a few moments later, Hachette arrived with what was needed now.

Yuri checked the temperature of the milk and poured it into the wineskin while the knight watched. He sat on the bed, poking a small hole in the end of the bag and took the child in his arms again. She fussed a little, but quickly found the makeshift bottle and took to its contents hungrily.

"Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No. That's all for now."

"I'll be outside if you need me."

Yuri nodded and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, listening to the satisfied sucking of the baby. The weight of a child in his arms was so different than that of a sword. It had been a very long time since he had cared for a baby this young, but the feeling was still the same. It was hard, especially these past few days, not to think about raising Karol years ago. Yuri had only been a child himself, a child forced to grow up far faster than any should. He'd had help then. Gramps and Raven had had his back and had gotten him whatever he'd needed, help or otherwise. But it was different now. This was not Karol and those days were lost.

* * *

 

Between issuing orders and checking on things, Flynn barely had a moment's breath until well into the evening.

Heliord was a turning point for them. They were gaining strength and followers. The knights here easily fell under his command, even as Flynn struggled under the weight of the role of Third Captain. He tried not to let it show. This was the first stop for changing things and it would only get more challenging from here. But he had a chance now, and he had to prove that he could do it.

With his new found power, he quickly had the steadfast Sodia promoted to be his lieutenant because of her aid and belief in him. She would be a valuable ally. They had served together before and she had more than proven her trustworthiness to him, and he had expressed that to Ioder. There were many other things he had expressed as well. Firstly, his promise to Don Whitehorse to attempt to make peace between the Union and the Empire. He had seen how things were on the other side of the battlefield and found that this war was completely senseless, put in motion most likely by the actions of Garista and Alexei, both of whom were now known traitors. He requested to bring formal charges against Cumore, and for the proper burial of those who had died at his hands. He asked that their troops be pulled out of Nordopolica and Hypionia at once, and for a formal apology and resolution regarding Myorzo. But all of this would have to wait until they had retaken Zaphias. That was the biggest challenge ahead of them.

Alexei had blown them away so easily, as if they were mere flies before his might, but that didn't mean Flynn was prepared to give up. It may have weakened their blades a bit, but their spirits burned ever brighter to save Estellise and stop Alexei's madness. He would make it plain for all to see so that no one could deny the horror the Commandant had committed.

After getting Heliord mostly straightened out, Ioder urged him to rest, but Flynn found himself instead wandering the parapets of the fortress where he had once been imprisoned. The night air was cool and refreshing and after a visit with the doctor, his body no longer hurt.

As he walked, he found that he was not the only one still awake. A baby's cry turned his attention to the walk in front of the inn, where he found Yuri, pacing slowly, rocking a bundle in his arms and humming softly. Yuri was patient, even through the baby's constant crying. He was calm, and slowly the child started to calm, too.

A warm swell filled Flynn's insides as he watched and he felt his heart pound just a little bit harder. His stomach tightened uncomfortably and he felt his mouth dry out. He couldn't tell if it was hunger or illness that hit him so suddenly.

"Sorry if I woke you," Yuri said and reminded him where he was.

"Oh, not at all," Flynn stammered. "I was just having a little trouble getting to sleep."

"So is this little one."

"I wasn't sure."

"Hm?"

"About whether or not to believe Karol and Raven's stories about you."

Yuri's humming stopped, "So what sort of tall tales did those two make up about me?"

"A story about you leaving Zaphias when you were ten." That one Yuri had confirmed himself last time they were in Dahngrest. "About raising Karol after his parents died in the Great War."

"Guess they didn't fudge too much."

"When we met up with Karol in Halure, you told me that he was just some kid who followed you around. Why?"

"I couldn't trust you. For all I knew, you could have considered him a criminal by association. I couldn't risk that happening to him."

"So you really did raise him from a baby?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He was an unwanted just like me."

Flynn was silent for a long moment, waiting to see if a story would follow that strange statement and it did.

"When I arrived in Dahngrest, the Great War was still raging. It wasn't too uncommon then for parents to abandon babies if they feared their cries would give them up as they fled from one place to another. The orphanages were quickly filling up. I found Karol on the steps of the Union and swore to Gramps that I'd take care of him." A small smile pressed at Yuri's lips. "Gramps was pretty amused by the whole thing and let me. I wanted a chance to prove that even unwanted children were worth something. That given a chance, anyone, no matter their background or their lineage, could make something of themselves."

"That's... a heavy burden for a child."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't easy. But I'd like to think that... maybe because of me, Karol has a chance to make something of himself. And I promised that I'd do what I could to make this a world where he had a chance. Some job I've done."

Flynn couldn't begin to imagine how Yuri felt. He had dedicated his life to this. He had bloodied his hands and made himself a criminal, a vigilante, a shadow for this goal and now, Karol hated him for it all. For Karol, the truth had been too much. To think that his hero, his older brother, was a monster was too much. But Yuri wasn't a monster.

That overwhelming warmth filled him up again, twisting his organs into strange shapes. He wanted to _help_ Yuri, but he had no idea what to do, or if Yuri would even accept the help if he offered it.

"I think... that Karol's just too young to understand why you did what you did. You're his hero. It was plain even for me to see that he idolized you."

Flynn could remember things his father had done years ago, before his promotion when they had been barely scraping by that, at the time, infuriated Flynn. He had worked on birthdays and holidays, and even ended up selling some of their possessions in order to make ends meet. Items like Flynn's childhood sword, an old Knight's sword that had been his father's when he had been in training. And while he had been furious at the time, and had said things he later regretted, as an adult, Flynn understood why his father had done those things.

"It's better this way."

"What?"

"If he hates me for the things I've done, then he won't end up following the same path." A sad reasoning, but true.

The baby started fussing again and their conversation was cut short as Yuri tried again to calm her. He began rocking her again, humming. She calmed again after a moment and her eyes started to close.

"Looks like she's finally asleep," Yuri sighed. "Well, I'm going to put her down for bed. Go get some sleep yourself, Captain."

The lack of bitterness and the sheer sincerity of those words left him mute as Yuri strode back into the inn. Yuri was the last person he had expected to be congratulatory about his promotion in an institution and nation that Yuri _hated_. It wasn't that he didn't still despise the Empire itself, because the venomous way Yuri spoke of it still betrayed that. What was it then that caused this change of tone?

He found himself staring up at the inn as one of the lights in the windows turned on dimly, and he could see Yuri's silhouette briefly in that light. He sat by the window, presumably in a chair. Tomorrow, they could plan further their travel to Zaphias. Ba'ul was out of commission and they had no ship to sail. Travel by foot was their only option. And then there was the matter of getting to Illyccia, which would require a ship. It was a lot to think about and a lot to plan, and standing there in the dark, looking up at Yuri's window wasn't getting him anywhere.

It was a few moments more before he decided to turn in for the night himself, after stopping briefly to check on the others in their rooms. Rita and Judith were asleep, and in the next room, Raven was snoring soundly, but Karol was awake, peering out the window into the forest that surrounded the city.

"How are you feeling?" Flynn asked quietly, so that his voice wouldn't disturb Raven.

"I'm fine." The boy's tone was a lot less agitated now, melancholic instead.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"I heard a baby crying. It woke me up."

Flynn moved to stand next to Karol at the window. "We found a baby down in the labor camp. Yuri's taking care of her. She's asleep now so she shouldn't bother you anymore."

"I just can't believe it."

"Believe what?"

Karol's fingers tightened on the window sill. "That Yuri... could just murder someone. Even if it was someone like Ragou, or like the others he told me about... Why'd he hafta do it? I never thought someone as strong as him could do something so terrible."

"While the things that Yuri did _are_ wrong... he did them with the best intentions."

"That doesn't make them less wrong," Karol said.

"That's true."

"Then why did he do them?"

Flynn could barely believe that he was _defending_ Yuri, a man who, not that long ago, he had considered his enemy. But so much had changed between now and then. Flynn had changed, and Yuri had, too. They had all changed. The whole world had changed.

"It's... complicated. I think that he just wants to make the world a better place."

Karol looked at him, completely dissatisfied with that answer, and Flynn couldn't blame him. This was a complex family problem that Flynn found himself thrust into, with no real resolution in sight.

“Yuri really wants justice, but he feels like he doesn't have the power to bring justice, even with who he is. 'Yuri's a good kid on a dark path, bearing a burden that no one much wants. This is the path that he's chosen and he is ready to face the consequences. And he's alone.'” Flynn found himself repeating the words that Don Whitehorse had once told him, words that he'd had trouble believing at the time. Words that were now filled with the truth of experience.

“I don't understand.”

"You should get some rest. Tomorrow we're going to figure out how to save Estellise and stop Alexei."

"Okay." Karol settled back down in his bed, but his eyes were ever on the window.

Flynn shut the door quietly behind him as he left, and continued on to an empty room that had been prepared for him. It was far too grand for him. The main suite of the inn was a huge room that opened to a balcony with a view of the forest. He hated it, but a place to sleep was better than nothing. He flopped down on the first of the beds and let sleep take him.

 


End file.
